LA-based Soylent Suspends Food Product Line that Caused Illness

Soylent, a three-year-old startup that makes meal replacement solutions, has suspended sales of its “Soylent Bars,” which have reportedly caused customers gastrointestinal sickness including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.

Soylent was founded by Robert Rhinehart with the goal of creating meal replacement products that meet all the nutritional requirements of an average adult. In 2014 the company launched Soylent 1.6, a powder formula that is made of ingredients such as soy protein, algal oil, isomaltulose, and essential vitamins and minerals. The product was well received after its introduction, which led Soylent to launch two additional products in August this year: Soylent 2.0, a pre-mixed drink based on the powder formula, and Soylent Bar, an alternative product in solid form.

Soylent Products | Credit: soylent.com

Gizmodo first reported incidents involving customers reacting badly to Soylent Bars after finding multiple customer complaints in online forums like Reddit. Several sources Gizmodo subsequently contacted told the tech news site that they had experienced illnesses including cramping, bloated feelings, and “feeling very sweaty and weak. One of the sources was even taken to urgent care after  having “five to six bouts of vomiting in less than an hour.”

Soylent’s initial response was that these customer illnesses are isolated cases due to individual allergies. But last week the company released a new statement announcing that it was pulling sales of its Soylent Bars and it urged customers to discard “any remaining bars.”

“Though our investigation into this matter continues, we have decided to err on the side of caution and take this preventative step,” the company said in the statement. “We are deeply sorry if any customer had any negative experiences after eating a Soylent Bar.”