Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Saturday October 29 2016, @10:06AM   Printer-friendly
from the not-all-proteins-are-created-equal dept.

Oh boy, Soylent. The post-food people are back at it again with the stomach problems. This time, it’s not the Bars that are getting investigated, but their Powder 1.6 product, which is turning up similar symptoms.

The company has stopped all distribution and sales of the powder for now. It announced in a blog post yesterday that all of their products tested negative for contamination and pathogens. But they’re hoping to find out what’s making some people sick as soon as possible:

“During our review, we noticed that a handful of consumers (less than 0.1%) who consumed Powder 1.6 over the past several months reported stomach-related symptoms that are consistent with what our Bar customers described. Interestingly, we didn’t see similar complaints during the 1.5 formulation. This possible connection allows us to narrow the field considerably given there are only a few ingredients that are specific to only our bars and Powder 1.6.”

Full Article:
https://motherboard.vice.com/read/soylent-recalls-powder-after-more-complaints-of-digestive-distress
https://web.archive.org/web/20161028214707/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/soylent-recalls-powder-after-more-complaints-of-digestive-distress


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:51AM

    by ledow (5567) on Saturday October 29 2016, @11:51AM (#420090) Homepage

    Given that I only ever hear about Soylent when they are having a health scare, recall or similar, I question whether - even if someone WANTS to live on that kind of stuff - they are the product to be using?

    Honestly, how many recalls does it take to check your formula, clean up your packaging and test that your "food" is actually food-safe?

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Saturday October 29 2016, @12:43PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Saturday October 29 2016, @12:43PM (#420097)

    Obviously, the problem with Soylent is that the quality of results vary considerably from person to person.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @01:16PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @01:16PM (#420102)

    For nearly all of their customers it isn't about "living on that kind of stuff" its about switching meals that would normally be junk food, like taco bell or even crap from the vending machine. Regular healthy meals still continue to be regular healthy food. Soylent is ultra-convenience food that isn't empty calories.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:01PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @04:01PM (#420140)

      Woah stop that voice of reason right there! We must look down upon all things new!!!

    • (Score: 2) by ledow on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:47PM

      by ledow (5567) on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:47PM (#420180) Homepage

      What's that got to do with food safety, product recalls and mould?

      I don't care WHY people want to eat it, but why do they continue to buy THAT PRODUCT after at least three distinct (maybe more) recalls and health-scares with it?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:14PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @07:14PM (#420217)

        That's an entirely different issue. But sure, lets think about that.

        Do you know how much shit is allowed in regular food? [foxnews.com]

        They've been shipping powder for 2+ years, this is the first time there's been a problem with powder and it is apparently a fraction of a percent of consumers. Its probably an allergic reaction. Food allergies, that never happens with other kinds of food...

      • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday October 31 2016, @03:20PM

        by urza9814 (3954) on Monday October 31 2016, @03:20PM (#420893) Journal

        I don't care WHY people want to eat it, but why do they continue to buy THAT PRODUCT after at least three distinct (maybe more) recalls and health-scares with it?

        So a company that hides any customer complaints is safer than a company that reacts to a couple minor complaints with a full-blown recall? This isn't a safety recall forced by the FDA, this is a voluntary recall because Soylent wants to be overly cautious because they know people already don't trust their food because it's been chopped into bits.

  • (Score: 1) by tekk on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:42PM

    by tekk (5704) Subscriber Badge on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:42PM (#420176)

    So Soylent people tend to be split into two camps. For one camp, they just don't enjoy food, weird as that sounds. Eating is 100% a way to get nutrients, and with Soylent you just get it and your nutrients are pretty much covered; you still want some solid foods for fiber, but aside from that you're golden. The other camp is what the other commenter has described. You keep it around for when you don't feel like cooking, because it's better for you and cheaper than eating out.

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 29 2016, @05:50PM (#420181)

      > you still want some solid foods for fiber,

      Soylent has fiber. [soylent.com] [28g per 2000 calories]
      Even the liquid version too. [soylent.com] [15g per 2000 calories]
      More than the typical american diet contains. [today.com] [14g per day]

      The typical american diet is pretty much a shit show. Even a 100% soylent diet is better than that.

  • (Score: 2) by urza9814 on Monday October 31 2016, @02:34PM

    by urza9814 (3954) on Monday October 31 2016, @02:34PM (#420870) Journal

    I'm still eating both the 1.6 powder and the bars, despite these recalls, because frankly I haven't seen any reason not to yet.

    What have they actually found in this case? Nothing. There's no bacteria, no toxins, no mold, and not a single person with any definite illness. Just a couple customers who got an upset stomach after a radical change to their diet. Where most companies would say it's no big deal and totally expected and nothing is wrong, Soylent has instead stopped all new shipments, refunded all current shipments, issued a full recall, and launched an investigation. That doesn't mean it's unsafe, it just means they aren't taking any chances.

    They've only had one actual problem that I'm aware of, which was mold in a few of the premixed bottles. I don't care much because I don't see the point in having them ship me bottles of water when I've got a pipe carrying the stuff right to my kitchen. But still, look through bags of cheese at the grocery store for long enough and I'm sure you'll find some mold there too. And it's not a huge problem. Certainly not as bad as the E.Coli they keep finding in bags of lettuce!