
Soylent recalls powder after dairy accidentally slips into 1.8 powder - ironchief
https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/04/soylent-recall-dairy-accidentally-mixed-into-dairy-free-1-8-powder/
======
Analemma_
I love the _idea_ of Soylent, but this has happened so many times now. It's
not just the mold and the lead and the manufacturing defects, but the fact
that often these were the result of decisions-- like not putting a foil cap on
a liquid food product-- that people with experience in the food industry would
never have made. I hate to give in to stereotypes, especially of my own
industry, but Soylent really gives the impression that they're a bunch of
Valley brogrammers just barging into an industry to "disrupt" everything, but
without knowing how to do so without killing people.

Does anyone know if there's a product that's "Soylent, but by people who know
what the hell they're doing"? That's what I want to buy.

~~~
amputect
Medical food and meal replacement shakes existed well before soylent, they're
usually intended for people who are on a feeding tube. There's a lot of common
brands like Ensure, and you can find probably at least one decent option in a
reasonably well-stocked grocery store. If you want to order online there's
some interesting stuff like: [http://www.functionalformularies.com/liquid-
hope-information...](http://www.functionalformularies.com/liquid-hope-
information.html)

Soylent's main distinguishing features are marketing and sloppiness. They are
also a little cheaper than other options, but here as with most things, you
get what you pay for.

~~~
cx1000
Ensure ingredients [0]: Water, Corn Maltodextrin, Sugar, Milk Protein
Concentrate, Blend of Vegetable Oils (Canola, Corn), Soy Protein Isolate,
Nonfat Milk. Less than 0.5% of: Magnesium Phosphate, Potassium Citrate,
Natural & Artificial Flavor, Cellulose Gel, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Calcium
Phosphate, Choline Chloride, Ascorbic Acid, Sodium Citrate, Cellulose Gum,
Potassium Chloride, Monoglycerides, Soy Lecithin, Carrageenan, Potassium
Hydroxide, Liquid Sucralose, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Sulfate, Acesulfame
Potassium, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Manganese Sulfate,
Calcium Pantothenate, Copper Sulfate, Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride,
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Vitamin A Palmitate, Riboflavin, Chromium Chloride,
Folic Acid, Biotin, Sodium Molybdate, Potassium Iodide, Sodium Selenate,
Phylloquinone, Vitamin D3, and Vitamin B12.

Nutritional Facts [0]: Amount Per Serving % Daily Value __Calories: 220
Calories from Fat: 50 Total Fat, g: 6 9% Saturated Fat, g: 1 5% Trans Fat, g:
0 Polyunsaturated Fat, g: 2 Monounsaturated Fat, g: 3 Cholesterol, mg: <5 <2%
Sodium, mg: 200 8% Potassium, mg: 370 11% Total Carbohydrate, g: 32 11%
Dietary Fiber, g: <1 <4% Sugars, g: 15 Protein, g: 9 18%

Conclusion: Drinking 9 of these a day to reach 1980 calories does not make the
% daily values add up to 100, so it's not balanced/complete. By the way, one
bottle is only 220 calories, which won't come close to filing you up.

[0] [https://ensure.com/nutrition-products/ensure-
original#vanill...](https://ensure.com/nutrition-products/ensure-
original#vanilla)

~~~
falcolas
Throw in a daily supplement, vitamin needs solved. Probably a bit light on the
fats, though.

> one bottle is only 220 calories, which won't come close to filing you up.

This depends greatly on your age, your body, and your expectations. If you eat
many small meals, 220 calories might be a perfect meal.

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Neliquat
Good on them for a fast and voluntary response. It is terrifying as a business
owner for a 3rd party to effectively have the have physical responsibility
while you have fiscal responsibility. Not a huge story however, this happens
to every food company.

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markkat
What worries me most, and why I stopped Soylent, is that the quality is not in
their hands, but in the hands of their suppliers. Do they test everything that
they receive to confirm that it is what the supplier says it is?

~~~
mrgoldenbrown
The amount of things that Soylent had plenty of control over and still got
wrong worries me more, because that means they probably _don 't_ test
everything :(

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newsat13
So this is something juicero's mixer would have caught easily (the recall
aspect).

~~~
GenerocUsername
If only I had to scan each of my bottles with a 700 dollar device before I
drank anything. Id be so much safer from dairy

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rodionos
The way some processed food categories are evolving places them close to drugs
in terms of risk. In drug manufacturing they use so called batch topologies to
trace back individual components for risk management, audit and process
improvement.

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thebigspacefuck
Could be worse. I've found a piece of metal in a burrito and there was a
recall for possible glass in a brand of ravioli I eat.

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jgrahamc
Interesting inadvertent test of how many people are lactose intolerant vs. say
they are.

~~~
geofft
I'm pretty sure people who are lactose-intolerant tend not to annihilate on
contact with lactose, but lactose is hard to digest for them and increasing
amounts of lactose cause increasing problems. Same with gluten-intolerant /
celiac people; "I told them this pasta was gluten-free and they didn't notice"
doesn't prove anything other than you very slightly eroded their digestive
tract.

As an analogy, I'm allergic to nuts but can usually successfully eat things
with a _small_ amount of nut content without even noticing, and foods fried in
peanut oil are definitely fine. But if you tried to use that to claim I'm not
actually allergic to nuts, you'd be wrong.

~~~
evgen
Peanut oil is a weird one, as a lot of people with peanut allergies react
specifically to a protein in the peanut. Most of the cheap oil that the local
Chinese restaurant orders in 55 gallon drums from Sysco has been refined so
much there is no peanut protein left in it. As someone with a peanut allergy I
have had no problems with strip mall egg rolls that I know have been fried in
peanut oil but needed to use an epipen at Manressa because something was fried
in some sort of organic, unrefined peanut oil.

