Is Protein Powder Made From Worms?

In this article

• The 5-minute version
• So why does everyone believe the viral AI whey worm video?
• So what's actually in your protein tub (or pouch)?
• So is there any truth to protein powder coming from bugs?
• How do you know for sure what's in your protein powder?
• Arm yourself: what to check, and what to ask
• The bottom line
• Key takeaways

No. Mainstream protein powder isn't made from worms. And whey protein certainly isn't.

Whey comes from dairy (the curds-and-whey kind). It's the watery liquid left over when milk is turned into cheese, so it comes from milk by definition. Plant proteins come from crops: pea, rice, soy, hemp and others. No worm at any step.

But we know. You've seen the video.

The footage looks convincing as it slides past your thumb. And it stays with you. We nearly fell for it too, and we make protein powder for a living.

So below we'll take the myth apart with proof you can check for yourself, right down to the exact seconds the viral clip breaks. Then we'll look at what else might be in your protein tub that you'd want to know about.

We'll cover: where the idea even came from? Is there a hint of truth to any of it? What's really in your powder? And what can a brand legally leave off the label?

The 5-minute version

No. Your whey or plant protein isn't made from worms. Whey is the liquid left when milk is curdled for cheese, so it comes from milk. Plant proteins are pulled from crops: pea, rice, soy, hemp and others.

The viral "worm factory" clip is AI. YouTube itself tags it as altered content. Watch closely and it falls apart:

• every shot lasts seven or eight seconds;
• tubs slide two directions on one conveyor; and
• a machine sprouts a second arm out of nowhere (we'll show you exact time-stamped links below so you can see for yourself).

The older clip that started all this, the one with millions of views, was real footage of a Korean mealworm-food factory, just relabeled as whey.

The catch? Insect protein is real. But it's its own clearly labeled category (cricket, mealworm), and sold openly. It isn't hiding in your whey!

The one insect-derived food ingredient you might ever meet is carmine, a red dye, not a protein. It has to be declared too.

The five-second check that ends the doubt: read the ingredients. If an insect were in there, the law makes the brand say so.

So why does everyone believe the viral AI whey worm video?

It's a combination of two things, mashed into one fear.

The first is a video. The clip trending now is AI-generated, and it's labeled as such: YouTube's own altered-content tag sits right on it. Point your eye at a few spots and the illusion drops.

In the "How Whey Protein is Made From Mealworm in Factories" clip:

• liquid sloshes back and forth against physics around 8:53,
• worms multiply in one side of the bins in a perfect square shape out of nowhere at 8:55; and
• between 9:14 and 9:17 a one-armed machine quietly grows a second arm mid-turn.

Once you've seen it, you can't unsee it.

There's an older clip too, the one with millions of views. That footage is real. It's just not what it claims to be. It's a South Korean factory making mealworm flour for human food, relabeled as a secret whey operation.

Two separate things: a real insect-food factory and a fake whey one.

The second reason people believe the viral AI worm video is more subtle, and it's actually true. There is one genuine insect-derived food ingredient: cochineal, or carmine (E120), a red coloring made from a scale insect. It tinted Starbucks' strawberry drink until 2012. It's the thing you may have heard about that colored Red Velvet cake too. But carmine is a color, not a protein. It isn't a standard protein-powder ingredient. And, as you'll see in a moment, it has to be declared.

But we know. The fears continue, because the question we're really asking ourselves is: do I trust a company I've barely heard of? Do they really have my interests at heart (some do, some don't, and we'll give clues how to tell below)? And what are they really putting in the protein tub (or pouch)?

So let's answer that now.

So what's actually in your protein tub (or pouch)?

Whey and casein protein powder both come from milk. Whey is the liquid left when milk is curdled for cheese. It's pasteurized (heated to kill bacteria), filtered to strip the lactose and then dried into powder. Casein is the other milk protein, the slow-digesting one. No insects at any step.

Plant proteins are pulled from a crop, not from any animal. Pea comes from yellow split peas. Soy comes from defatted soybean. Rice is usually enzyme-treated brown rice (an enzyme "eats" the starch, leaving the protein). Hemp is the seed-cake left after the oil is pressed.

In the US (or Europe, or really most countries), labeling laws require companies to declare what is in their protein. Are they always right? No. Are there any things you need to watch out for? Yes.

But we'll get to that in more detail later.

For now, if you want to get into real detail on how protein powders are made, we have a full stage-by-stage version, we walk through it in our article how protein powder is really made.

So is there any truth to protein powder coming from bugs?

A flat "never" would be wrong (and we're sure you, as a sharp reader, would catch it). The blunt answer: mainstream protein isn't made from worms.

But there is such a thing as cricket and mealworm powders (which are sold, marketed on sustainability).

However, they're a niche choice, especially in the US (where almost no companies sell them). We think they're also a weaker protein than their marketing suggests. Three things they tend to leave out:

• Quality below the top tier. Each has a weak spot: mealworm runs low in the sulfur aminos (methionine and cysteine), cricket low in tryptophan. In a lab digestion model, both scored a notch under whey and a well-built pea-and-grain blend.
• They're fatty, so weak protein-per-calorie. Mealworm is roughly 30% fat. Weight for weight, that's about half the protein you'd get from a whey or RISE311 scoop at the same calories.
• Barely on sale in the US. The consumer cricket brands that hyped it have mostly folded or pivoted to other proteins. What's left is a couple of specialty suppliers and imports.

One thing not to blame: the chitin, the crunchy shell. It's only 3 to 4% of the weight, and stripping it out actually made quality worse in the data. The weak spots are the limiting amino acid and the fat, not the shell.

There's a useful safety note here too, and it's a payoff rather than a scare. Insect protein can cross-react with shellfish and dust-mite allergies (because they share a protein called tropomyosin). That's a real reason the category or protein must be labeled by law.

How do you know for sure what's in your protein powder?

We suspect this is the real question you're investigating. What does the label legally have to show, and what does it not?

In the US, the FDA has no EU-style pre-approval for novel foods. Edible insects sit under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. An isolated insect protein used as an ingredient would need a safety clearance (a GRAS conclusion, short for "generally recognized as safe") or a food-additive approval, and there's no edible-insect GRAS notice on file. So insect protein is sold, it's labeled, and it isn't slipped into mainstream powders.

Even the one real insect-derived ingredient can't hide. The FDA requires cochineal and carmine to be declared on the label, a rule it tightened in 2011. In the EU the bar is higher still: edible insects are treated as Novel Foods, only specific species have been authorized, and any insect content must be listed by name.

Arm yourself: what to check, and what to ask from your protein brand

What ends up in a tub (or pouch) is decided by a few key decisions: sourcing, formulation and the machine that blends it all together. Here's a quick tour (we have a more in-depth article if you want to dig into more detail, some are already written, and some are planned).

• GMP processes: a GMP badge means the facility follows the gold standard of industry practice. It means they have documented, suitable processes and are audited multiple times to check they comply.
  • It doesn't mean they use the best ingredients or the best machines. It does mean the standards of hygiene, storage and the like are all appropriate.
  • You want to ensure that your brand adheres to GMP best practices. There is no reason not to if they have nothing to hide.
• The type of blending machine: this is subtle (and not declared on the label). There are two main kinds of blending machines: ribbon blenders and bin blenders. Ribbon blenders are very hard to clean, and residue can be stuck in the gearing mechanism, so we would always recommend a bin blender.
  • We believe this is the biggest reason for recalls in the industry (caused by allergen cross-contact between production runs, rarely fraud).
• The "heavy metals" issue: cadmium and arsenic are present in soil. All plants have some (very small) amounts in them. Lead is both in the soil and in the air from leaded fuels and industry.
  • You want to avoid too much (or keep it low) as heavy metal accumulates in the body. High exposure (usually defined as when someone has worked around lead paint, high dietary exposure and in industry) is about as big a risk factor to health as being inactive.
  • "Organic" pea protein is one of the worst plants for this (because most of the world's supply comes from China, which has higher levels than almost anywhere else due to heavy industrialization at the moment). Yes, at the moment, because it IS a changing picture and we're not saying "X country is always better than Y country."
  • Shockingly, what we're saying is that organic protein is often a cheaper, lower-quality ingredient marketed as a more premium (and expensive) option.
• Gums and lecithins to avoid: many brands (including us) use gums (to help with mouthfeel) and lecithin (to help the protein mix). That can be a good thing (with health benefits) or a bad thing (with known issues), depending on how they're selected.
  • Avoid: guar, cellulose gum (CMC) and carrageenan are worth avoiding, as studies show they irritate the gut lining or cause gastric issues (for at least some people). Also best to try and avoid soy lecithin (it tends to be processed with a neurotoxin called hexane, which isn't good for you).
  • Look for: acacia gum, which is a health supplement in its own right and a good fiber. And sunflower lecithin, which is made without hexane.
• Sweeteners to avoid: many brands use sweeteners to help make protein taste more palatable. We'd argue a lot of brands OVERUSE them to make up for poor-quality ingredients (but that's a conversation for another day). Whey and plant-based are as bad as each other here (whey has a slightly chemical tasting note that is hard to cover with flavoring, and a lot of plant proteins are a bit thick).
  • Avoid: any sweetener ending in "ol". It's likely a sugar alcohol, and they're known to cause many gut issues (among other nasty things).
  • Consider: monk fruit and stevia (Reb-A). Both have 0 calories. Some people, around 3% of the population, think Reb-A has a licorice tasting note (and tend to hate that). Monk fruit has the same tasting note. Ultimately, this one comes down to personal choice.
  • Look for: Reb-M, a premium calorie-free sweetener. It tastes the most like sugar and has no downsides (except that it's expensive, so tends to only be found in premium brands).

On fillers and additives, the "avoid all gums and additives" fear is oversold. Not all of them are bad (see above). We give more detail on these ingredients (and spotting them all) in our article how protein powder is really made.

The bottom line

In one breath: the scary video is AI (the original was real footage, just mislabeled), whey is milk and plant protein is crops. Insect protein is real but a separate, labeled, weaker-and-fattier niche. So the gut-check is simple: read the ingredients. If it isn't listed, it isn't in there.

Key takeaways

• No, mainstream protein powder isn't made from worms. Whey is a by-product of cheese-making from milk. Plant proteins come from pea, rice, soy or hemp.
• The viral "worm factory" video is AI, tagged as altered by YouTube. The older, real clip is a Korean mealworm-food factory relabeled as whey.
• Insect protein genuinely exists, but as a separate, clearly labeled category (cricket, mealworm), sold openly on sustainability.
• It's a weaker protein than its marketing suggests: it scores below whey and a good plant blend, it's fatty (mealworm ~30% fat), and it's barely sold in the US.
• Carmine is the only insect-derived food ingredient you'd meet. It's a red dye, not a protein, and it must be declared.
• The label is your five-second check. In every major market, an insect ingredient has to be listed by name.
• The real thing to watch is contamination and formulation. As above, avoid the gums, sweeteners and other nasties we are pretty sure are bad (they're also cheap, so companies use them in cheaper protein powders). Stick to the good ones.