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Wow, it's like the "Hacker News Is Depressing" Article didn't happen. I trust the Soylent folks more than I trust myself purchasing frozen meals in a grocery st

Wow, it's like the "Hacker News Is Depressing" Article didn't happen. I trust the Soylent folks more than I trust myself purchasing frozen meals in a grocery store. It's hard to be worse than that benchmark.

jckt 13y ago
Are we not allowed to criticise anymore? Chasing makes a good point. They simply stated several claims, and didn't even attempt to substantiate them at all.
- Afforess 13y ago
  Chasing is clearly spreading FUD. Claiming they are breaking FDA rules, without any backup to that assertion is pretty much the definition of FUD. What FDA rules could they be violating? ----Edit: Also noticed this---- Soylent will be produced in an FDA-approved facility with strict regulatory controls ensuring safety.
  - jckt 13y ago
    Technically he says he thinks he broke some FDA rules. His phrasing could've been better, but his point stands--perhaps it's false advertising? This is what the campaign site said: "Soylent is perfectly balanced and optimized for your body and lifestyle, meaning it automatically puts you at an optimal weight, makes you feel full, and improves your focus and cognition." After that, they don't offer any comprehensive list any ingredients, any recipe, any nutritional information (if you find any, I'd be glad to retract this point). Also, as far as I know from the guy's blog, the idea is to replace your diet with Soylent (and water, I guess). Surely that's false advertising, by saying your food can replace all other foods, while your food hasn't even been tested yet? I'm sure if it was just some fruit smoothie thing they could get away with saying that it's a healthy food. But as a complete, all-round food-replacement? I'd be careful with that.
evv 13y ago
Its not like one article would change the behavior of everyone on here. HN has pessimism in its culture, and most of the best comments are the critical ones.
- chasing 13y ago
  I find criticism to be much more helpful (usually) than cheers. For what it's worth.
  - ruswick 13y ago
    I agree. Mindless consensus is not the way to probe issues and engage in meaningful discussion; contentious discourse is.
- Afforess 13y ago
  I agree, but you don't need to emulate Linus's rants to share criticism. There is a difference between constructive criticism and spreading FUD.
revelation 13y ago
I'm fine with being positive on the next fun cat photo sharing service, no evil has ever come from that, but they are advertising this as a complete replacement for all your meals without even telling as much as whats in it. That, frankly, should be illegal, and it probably is.
- mey 13y ago
  I suggest start here http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298 and check out the continuation of his experiment at http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424
- Kell 13y ago
  Hu? Not telling you what's in it ? Isn't the recipe open sourced and extensively discussed on their website ? Like here for example : http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 ?
  - DanBC 13y ago
    Weirdly, that page tells you that the creator himself thinks Soylent may be dangerous for people other than him. > I am reticent to provide exact brand names and instructions because I am not fully convinced of the diet's safety for a physiology different than mine. What if I missed something that's essential for someone of a different race or age group? Why does he now think it's acceptable to market this to everyone?
    - munificent 13y ago
      I'm not sure, but I've got about 154,567 guesses.
    - pbreit 13y ago
      > Why does he now think it's acceptable to market this to everyone? Because he and a number of people have been "eating" it for a number of months?
w1ntermute 13y ago
> trust the Soylent folks more than I trust myself purchasing frozen meals in a grocery store. That's a strawman. You're ignoring the fact that those frozen meals are made by companies who have more experience in the food industry than these 4 clowns combined a million times over. I am MUCH more afraid of the Soylent guys' sheer ignorance than I am of any profit-motivated negligence on the part of large frozen meal companies. Edit: also read this thorough breakdown of Rob Rhinehart's claims regarding Soylent by a health expert and nutritionist: http://www.businessinsider.com/rob-rhinehart-food-substitute-eating-disorder-2013-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/rob-rhinehart-food-substitute...
- bhitov 13y ago
  > thorough breakdown of Rob Rhinehart's claims regarding Soylent by a health expert and nutritionist I've seen this posted a few times and I'm having trouble seeing it as thorough. Her complaint on his caloric restriction claims contained a link to relevant research, that was adequate. Her other complaint, which was about his understanding of protein digestibility, contained little detail. These were the only claims she addressed with more than denial.
- thebooktocome 13y ago
  As much as I think the nutritionist in the Business Insider piece is right, I wish she could have been somewhat more even in tone. It's hard to link that to people who are predisposed to taking Rhinehart seriously.
- nawitus 13y ago
  Froze meal companies don't need to sell particularly healthy meals, in fact I don't most of their customers care much about healthiness.
- josh2600 13y ago
  Ad Hominem attacks don't strengthen your argument. From what I can tell, the Soylent team appears to be pursuing their goals in an admirably scientific fashion. Although there's quite a bit of work to do, I recall an article from a couple of days ago on HN that was talking about the wonderful work the big guys are doing. This quote from General Mills is priceless: >In a public comment posted on the FTC website, our friends at General Mills pointed out that under the IWG guidelines, the most commonly consumed foods in the US would be considered unhealthy. Specifically, according to General Mills, “of the 100 most commonly consumed foods and beverages in America, 88 would fail the IWG’s proposed standards.” [1] I understand your disagreement, I disagree with your ad hominem attack and think that there may be some merit to the Soylent team and their claims, especially when taken in light of the General Mills comments. [1]http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/19/dear-american-consumers-please-dont-start-eating-healthfully-sincerely-the-food-industry/ http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/19/de...
brown9-2 13y ago
Would you mind saying how they won your trust? Have you tried the product?
gus_massa 13y ago
I didn't like the insults and the tone of the comment. I think that it could have been written in a more polite way. Anyway, I agree that it's advertised as a too good to be true product, and it was created by people without the needed background. In the last update they added sulfur!!! ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5609546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5609546 ). It's one of most common elements in the human body, not a very strange unexpected thing. Most of the vitamins were discovered because some people aet a very restrictive diet. Usually because more diverse food were not available (in the middle of the sea), or because they didn't have money to buy more diverse food (semi slavery). A diverse diet of complex food protect you form not eating the thing that you don't know you should eat. Eat only this at your own risk.
blazespin 13y ago
In fact, most doctors would say that you should trust yourself more. Our bodies are generally pretty good at self regulating and telling us what we should or shouldn't be eating. If you look at something and find yourself salivating / very hungry, it's probably your bodies way of telling you it has some nutrient you're missing.
xtracto 13y ago
It is funny that I agree with both you and GP's post: On one side, it is very sad that the majority of posts in this thread are very negative. But on the other side, I would give more credit to their enterprise if there was a nutriologist, chemist, or at leas tan MD in their team. The fact that no one in the team is slightly related to food/nutrition or human well-being rings bells.

jckt 13y ago

Are we not allowed to criticise anymore? Chasing makes a good point. They simply stated several claims, and didn't even attempt to substantiate them at all.

Afforess 13y ago
Chasing is clearly spreading FUD. Claiming they are breaking FDA rules, without any backup to that assertion is pretty much the definition of FUD. What FDA rules could they be violating? ----Edit: Also noticed this---- Soylent will be produced in an FDA-approved facility with strict regulatory controls ensuring safety.
- jckt 13y ago
  Technically he says he thinks he broke some FDA rules. His phrasing could've been better, but his point stands--perhaps it's false advertising? This is what the campaign site said: "Soylent is perfectly balanced and optimized for your body and lifestyle, meaning it automatically puts you at an optimal weight, makes you feel full, and improves your focus and cognition." After that, they don't offer any comprehensive list any ingredients, any recipe, any nutritional information (if you find any, I'd be glad to retract this point). Also, as far as I know from the guy's blog, the idea is to replace your diet with Soylent (and water, I guess). Surely that's false advertising, by saying your food can replace all other foods, while your food hasn't even been tested yet? I'm sure if it was just some fruit smoothie thing they could get away with saying that it's a healthy food. But as a complete, all-round food-replacement? I'd be careful with that.

evv 13y ago

Its not like one article would change the behavior of everyone on here. HN has pessimism in its culture, and most of the best comments are the critical ones.

chasing 13y ago
I find criticism to be much more helpful (usually) than cheers. For what it's worth.
- ruswick 13y ago
  I agree. Mindless consensus is not the way to probe issues and engage in meaningful discussion; contentious discourse is.
Afforess 13y ago
I agree, but you don't need to emulate Linus's rants to share criticism. There is a difference between constructive criticism and spreading FUD.

revelation 13y ago

I'm fine with being positive on the next fun cat photo sharing service, no evil has ever come from that, but they are advertising this as a complete replacement for all your meals without even telling as much as whats in it. That, frankly, should be illegal, and it probably is.

mey 13y ago
I suggest start here http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=298 and check out the continuation of his experiment at http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424
Kell 13y ago
Hu? Not telling you what's in it ? Isn't the recipe open sourced and extensively discussed on their website ? Like here for example : http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 http://robrhinehart.com/?p=424 ?
- DanBC 13y ago
  Weirdly, that page tells you that the creator himself thinks Soylent may be dangerous for people other than him. > I am reticent to provide exact brand names and instructions because I am not fully convinced of the diet's safety for a physiology different than mine. What if I missed something that's essential for someone of a different race or age group? Why does he now think it's acceptable to market this to everyone?
  - munificent 13y ago
    I'm not sure, but I've got about 154,567 guesses.
  - pbreit 13y ago
    > Why does he now think it's acceptable to market this to everyone? Because he and a number of people have been "eating" it for a number of months?

w1ntermute 13y ago

> trust the Soylent folks more than I trust myself purchasing frozen meals in a grocery store. That's a strawman. You're ignoring the fact that those frozen meals are made by companies who have more experience in the food industry than these 4 clowns combined a million times over. I am MUCH more afraid of the Soylent guys' sheer ignorance than I am of any profit-motivated negligence on the part of large frozen meal companies. Edit: also read this thorough breakdown of Rob Rhinehart's claims regarding Soylent by a health expert and nutritionist: http://www.businessinsider.com/rob-rhinehart-food-substitute-eating-disorder-2013-3 http://www.businessinsider.com/rob-rhinehart-food-substitute...

bhitov 13y ago
> thorough breakdown of Rob Rhinehart's claims regarding Soylent by a health expert and nutritionist I've seen this posted a few times and I'm having trouble seeing it as thorough. Her complaint on his caloric restriction claims contained a link to relevant research, that was adequate. Her other complaint, which was about his understanding of protein digestibility, contained little detail. These were the only claims she addressed with more than denial.
thebooktocome 13y ago
As much as I think the nutritionist in the Business Insider piece is right, I wish she could have been somewhat more even in tone. It's hard to link that to people who are predisposed to taking Rhinehart seriously.
nawitus 13y ago
Froze meal companies don't need to sell particularly healthy meals, in fact I don't most of their customers care much about healthiness.
josh2600 13y ago
Ad Hominem attacks don't strengthen your argument. From what I can tell, the Soylent team appears to be pursuing their goals in an admirably scientific fashion. Although there's quite a bit of work to do, I recall an article from a couple of days ago on HN that was talking about the wonderful work the big guys are doing. This quote from General Mills is priceless: >In a public comment posted on the FTC website, our friends at General Mills pointed out that under the IWG guidelines, the most commonly consumed foods in the US would be considered unhealthy. Specifically, according to General Mills, “of the 100 most commonly consumed foods and beverages in America, 88 would fail the IWG’s proposed standards.” [1] I understand your disagreement, I disagree with your ad hominem attack and think that there may be some merit to the Soylent team and their claims, especially when taken in light of the General Mills comments. [1]http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/19/dear-american-consumers-please-dont-start-eating-healthfully-sincerely-the-food-industry/ http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2013/05/19/de...

brown9-2 13y ago

Would you mind saying how they won your trust? Have you tried the product?

gus_massa 13y ago

I didn't like the insults and the tone of the comment. I think that it could have been written in a more polite way. Anyway, I agree that it's advertised as a too good to be true product, and it was created by people without the needed background. In the last update they added sulfur!!! ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5609546 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5609546 ). It's one of most common elements in the human body, not a very strange unexpected thing. Most of the vitamins were discovered because some people aet a very restrictive diet. Usually because more diverse food were not available (in the middle of the sea), or because they didn't have money to buy more diverse food (semi slavery). A diverse diet of complex food protect you form not eating the thing that you don't know you should eat. Eat only this at your own risk.

blazespin 13y ago

In fact, most doctors would say that you should trust yourself more. Our bodies are generally pretty good at self regulating and telling us what we should or shouldn't be eating. If you look at something and find yourself salivating / very hungry, it's probably your bodies way of telling you it has some nutrient you're missing.

xtracto 13y ago

It is funny that I agree with both you and GP's post: On one side, it is very sad that the majority of posts in this thread are very negative. But on the other side, I would give more credit to their enterprise if there was a nutriologist, chemist, or at leas tan MD in their team. The fact that no one in the team is slightly related to food/nutrition or human well-being rings bells.