6 ms·

"Soylent is trying to do something more ambitious than other packaged food manufacturers" No, they aren't. There is nothing special about what they're trying t

by st3v3r 10y ago

"Soylent is trying to do something more ambitious than other packaged food manufacturers" No, they aren't. There is nothing special about what they're trying to do compared to any other packaged food manufacturer. That's why they shouldn't be cut any more slack than any other manufacturer. "It's not unreasonable to expect there to be some small hiccups." It entirely is. If this happened to Twinkies, people would be livid. I see no reason that shouldn't be the same response here.

baby 10y ago
> There is nothing special about what they're trying to do compared to any other packaged food manufacturer I'm neutral on this debate, but I think you are wrong here. Soylent is a meal replacer. It is supposed to bring you all nutrients you need in a meal.
- DanBC 10y ago
  Dozens of those already exist and are used everyday in hospitals across the US. They come in a wide variety of types - high and low protein, high and low calorie, with or without fibre, designed for naso-gastric tube feeding or for drinking, flavoured or unflavoured, designed to be eaten on their own or to be mixed with some other food stuff, designed to be eaten cold or hot. The novelty of Soylent is (irresponsibly) marketing these to the public.
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Haven't you ever seen a commercial for meal replacement shakes before? They've been a staple in the diet industry as long as I've been alive. Liquid diets are also a "thing" in medical settings for patients who are unable to take solid foods. Remember "Carnation Instant Breakfast"? That's been around since the 60s. Its really not an original idea.
  - baby 10y ago
    People keep saying that, but no one point me to a webpage where I can buy these. (even getting downvoted =) the hate against soylent is strong)
    - jpindar 10y ago
      https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+powder&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+powder https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Da... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_20?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+ready+to+drink&sprefix=meal+replacement+rea%2Caps%2C175&crid=2HMY7G3XTRDOH&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+ready+to+drink https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_20?url=search-alia... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+bars&crid=23MWCPUKXPY18&sprefix=meal+replacement+ba%2Caps%2C514&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+bars https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alia...
    - nommm-nommm 10y ago
      I don't hate Soylent in the least but you've gotta be closing your eyes and plugging your ears to believe what they are trying to do is new or original. I mean I used carnation instant breakfast as an example, that's available in every single grocery store in America.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  Those have existed for quite some time. And, quite frankly, they're just packaging food. That's not novel. Every other food maker is responsible for making sure their product is safe. Why should Soylent be any different?
dragonwriter 10y ago
Soylent pretends to be more ambitious in substance, but that's mostly hype. OTOH, it's the hype that's the only reason anyone pays attention to Soylent at all, so they are kind of stuck accepting the bad side of that along with the good.
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
ng12 10y ago
> That's why they shouldn't be cut any more slack than any other manufacturer. I think it's the opposite, people are unnecessarily critical of Soylent. The problem is consumers weren't aware they were allergic to algae flour. It has nothing to do with Soylent's hygiene or formulation practices.
- cptskippy 10y ago
  I think the attention received is relative to the attention solicited. Soylent has been everywhere in the news talking up their revolutionary product. It's not unlike Apple's Macbook debacle. They launched a product and made a big deal about it, it had a flaw and everyone latched onto it to complain.
  - jacobolus 10y ago
    > Apple's Macbook debacle Are you talking about the machines that haven’t been released yet, that nobody outside of Apple has ever tried? Can you explain how it’s a “debacle”? Here’s a response from Bret Victor, who apparently worked on prototypes 8 years ago: https://twitter.com/worrydream/status/793508197336178688 https://twitter.com/worrydream/status/793508197336178688
  - nilkn 10y ago
    It seems to me that Soylent barely even has a marketing budget compared to Apple. To compare it to Apple's marketing of the MacBook Pro seems like a huge stretch. In my honest estimation, word about it has largely spread precisely due to the large amount of vitriol it receives and the fact that it easily and naturally leads to controversial forum discussions on nutrition. Something about the very idea of Soylent causes people on lots of internet forums to pop out of the woodwork and discuss it quite passionately, from both directions. The basic concept seems to engender a lot of excitement from some and a lot of disgust from others, and when those folks clash online you immediately get 200+ comment threads like the one we're in. This phenomenon has been going on for years at this point, over and over, both here and elsewhere.
Zikes 10y ago
I think a lot of people are forgetting about Olestra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra#Side_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra#Side_effects Edit: I think that a well-known incidence of a popular food product which got FDA approval and saw widespread use also causing gastrointestinal distress is entirely relevant to the discussion. If you disagree with me feel free to use the comments.
- lanebrain 10y ago
  Anal leakage - thanks Olestra, didn't know that was even a thing.
jklinger410 10y ago
You are being purposely obtuse and have clearly done no research into Soylent if this is your real opinion.
mrtron 10y ago
If I replaced a meal with Twinkies, I would expect to get sick.

by st3v3r 10y ago

baby 10y ago

> There is nothing special about what they're trying to do compared to any other packaged food manufacturer I'm neutral on this debate, but I think you are wrong here. Soylent is a meal replacer. It is supposed to bring you all nutrients you need in a meal.

DanBC 10y ago
Dozens of those already exist and are used everyday in hospitals across the US. They come in a wide variety of types - high and low protein, high and low calorie, with or without fibre, designed for naso-gastric tube feeding or for drinking, flavoured or unflavoured, designed to be eaten on their own or to be mixed with some other food stuff, designed to be eaten cold or hot. The novelty of Soylent is (irresponsibly) marketing these to the public.
nommm-nommm 10y ago
Haven't you ever seen a commercial for meal replacement shakes before? They've been a staple in the diet industry as long as I've been alive. Liquid diets are also a "thing" in medical settings for patients who are unable to take solid foods. Remember "Carnation Instant Breakfast"? That's been around since the 60s. Its really not an original idea.
- baby 10y ago
  People keep saying that, but no one point me to a webpage where I can buy these. (even getting downvoted =) the hate against soylent is strong)
  - jpindar 10y ago
    https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+powder&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+powder https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Da... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_20?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+ready+to+drink&sprefix=meal+replacement+rea%2Caps%2C175&crid=2HMY7G3XTRDOH&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+ready+to+drink https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_20?url=search-alia... https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=meal+replacement+bars&crid=23MWCPUKXPY18&sprefix=meal+replacement+ba%2Caps%2C514&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ameal+replacement+bars https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_19?url=search-alia...
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    I don't hate Soylent in the least but you've gotta be closing your eyes and plugging your ears to believe what they are trying to do is new or original. I mean I used carnation instant breakfast as an example, that's available in every single grocery store in America.
st3v3r 10y ago
Those have existed for quite some time. And, quite frankly, they're just packaging food. That's not novel. Every other food maker is responsible for making sure their product is safe. Why should Soylent be any different?

dragonwriter 10y ago

Soylent pretends to be more ambitious in substance, but that's mostly hype. OTOH, it's the hype that's the only reason anyone pays attention to Soylent at all, so they are kind of stuck accepting the bad side of that along with the good.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

ng12 10y ago

> That's why they shouldn't be cut any more slack than any other manufacturer. I think it's the opposite, people are unnecessarily critical of Soylent. The problem is consumers weren't aware they were allergic to algae flour. It has nothing to do with Soylent's hygiene or formulation practices.

cptskippy 10y ago
I think the attention received is relative to the attention solicited. Soylent has been everywhere in the news talking up their revolutionary product. It's not unlike Apple's Macbook debacle. They launched a product and made a big deal about it, it had a flaw and everyone latched onto it to complain.
- jacobolus 10y ago
  > Apple's Macbook debacle Are you talking about the machines that haven’t been released yet, that nobody outside of Apple has ever tried? Can you explain how it’s a “debacle”? Here’s a response from Bret Victor, who apparently worked on prototypes 8 years ago: https://twitter.com/worrydream/status/793508197336178688 https://twitter.com/worrydream/status/793508197336178688
- nilkn 10y ago
  It seems to me that Soylent barely even has a marketing budget compared to Apple. To compare it to Apple's marketing of the MacBook Pro seems like a huge stretch. In my honest estimation, word about it has largely spread precisely due to the large amount of vitriol it receives and the fact that it easily and naturally leads to controversial forum discussions on nutrition. Something about the very idea of Soylent causes people on lots of internet forums to pop out of the woodwork and discuss it quite passionately, from both directions. The basic concept seems to engender a lot of excitement from some and a lot of disgust from others, and when those folks clash online you immediately get 200+ comment threads like the one we're in. This phenomenon has been going on for years at this point, over and over, both here and elsewhere.

Zikes 10y ago

I think a lot of people are forgetting about Olestra. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra#Side_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olestra#Side_effects Edit: I think that a well-known incidence of a popular food product which got FDA approval and saw widespread use also causing gastrointestinal distress is entirely relevant to the discussion. If you disagree with me feel free to use the comments.

lanebrain 10y ago
Anal leakage - thanks Olestra, didn't know that was even a thing.

jklinger410 10y ago

You are being purposely obtuse and have clearly done no research into Soylent if this is your real opinion.

mrtron 10y ago

If I replaced a meal with Twinkies, I would expect to get sick.