Soylent is a powdered meal replacement product, advertised as a "staple meal" that its creator says meets all nutritional requirements for an average adult. It was created by software engineer Rob Rhinehart as a self-experiment in nutrition and is now marketed and sold by Rosa Labs. Soylent has undergone four reformulations since release and dedicates space to DIY recipes created by the online community. As of 2015, there is no published scientific evidence on the risks or benefits of Soylent itself but all ingredients in the product are generally recognized as safe by the United States FDA.
History
On February 13, 2013 Rhinehart detailed his initial 30 day experiment in food replacement on his blog before later sharing the nutritional information and original formula for interested parties. Posts over the next two months detailed modifications to the formula leading up to a crowdfunding campaign on Tilt and venture capital funds in excess of US$3,500,000.
The first shipments of U.S. orders began in the first week of May 2014. In January 2015, Soylent received $20 million in Series A round funding, led by Andreessen Horowitz. In February 2015, Soylent released version 1.4 with changes, such as using a carbohydrate/fat/protein ratio of 43/40/17, made with the advice of F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, M.D., a professor of medicine at Columbia University.
Naming
The product's name is based on Harry Harrison's 1966 science fiction novel Make Room! Make Room! in which the food product derives from soya and lentils; although it's commonly associated with its 1973 film adaptation Soylent Green in which the eponymous food supplement is made from human remains.
Cost
In April 2013, Rhinehart said he was spending US$154.62 per month on Soylent, yielding a diet of 11,000 kilojoules (2,600Â kcal) per day while a diet of medical food such as Jevity would cost US$456 per month for 8,400 kilojoules (2,000Â kcal).
Soylent 1.0, which began shipping commercially in May 2014, was supplied in quantities of 7, 14, or 28 bags, with one bag providing "3+" meals. As of February 2015 it was available only in the US for $85 for 7 bags, reducing the price for larger quantities or having a monthly subscription.
Nutrition
The following summarizes the nutrition facts and ingredients for Soylent 1.4. The nutrition facts are based on one serving of 115 grams (4.1Â oz). Each Soylent pouch contains four servings.
Taste
Soylent contains soy lecithin, gum arabic, vanillin and sucralose as masking flavors and to adjust appearance, texture and smell. Rhinehart calls the flavor "minimal", "broad" and "nonspecific". As of version 1.4, vanillin is no longer included as an ingredient.
Reviews on the taste of Soylent (before version 1.4 was released) vary widely. Negative reviews have called it a "punishingly boring, joyless product", "like someone wrung out a dishtowel into a glass", "purposefully bland", "and compared the taste to "homemade nontoxic Play-Doh". Others were "pleasantly surprised" with the "rich, creamy, and strangely satisfying" flavor, or likened it to that of a vanilla milkshake with the texture of pancake batter.
See also
- Liquid diet
- Nutraloaf
- Plumpy'nut
- Ambronite
- Protein shake
- Therapeutic food
References
External links
- Official website
- Rob Rhinehart's blog
- Rosa Labs official website
- List of Soylent recipes
- "How I Ate No Food for 30 Days", Vice Motherboard, November 12, 2013
- Soylent, Neoliberalism and the Politics of Life Hacking (2014-05-19), Jeff Sparrow, CounterPunch
- Gruel today, gruel tomorrow The Economist May 25, 2013.
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