from Hacker News

Soylent can no longer ship to Canada

by thejacenxpress on 10/23/17, 11:33 PM with 192 comments

  • by HarryHirsch on 10/23/17, 11:50 PM

    The Canadian requirements look very sensible: http://www.inspection.gc.ca/food/labelling/food-labelling-fo...

    Spit it out - which one did Soylent fail?

  • by garyrichardson on 10/24/17, 3:17 AM

    Field Roast Vegan Sausages (https://fieldroast.com/product-family/sausages/) were temporarily banned a couple of years ago (http://fieldroast.com/blog/field-roast-coming-back-canada/).

    I'm a vegetarian, not vegan, but I was pretty angry when they disappeared from our shelves. There was also some scuttlebutt that Field Roast was reported to the CFIA by a competitor.

    As a left leaning Canadian. But don't tell me what to eat. On the other hand, please keep poisonous or otherwise dangerous foods off of our grocery store shelves. It's a fine line to walk.

  • by earlyriser on 10/24/17, 2:54 PM

    I'm Canadian and drink Soylent regularly, maybe like 2-4 times per month. Soylent is again doing a poor job on PR in that FAQ. The most important questions are which requirements are the failing and why. That's all, but again they're obscure and far from the public.

    Same was when lots of their consumers wanted a non-edulcorated version (it was very sweet some versions ago) and then there was no communication on their side.

    I still buy it, because it's convenient, but they could improve their communication.

  • by discreditable on 10/24/17, 2:06 PM

    I find it funny that on their powder's product page[1], they champion themselves for "Transparent Labeling", and right under that put the "bad" stuff in barely legible grey.

    1. https://www.soylent.com/product/powder/

  • by alexozer on 10/24/17, 12:56 AM

    How about in the meantime, Soylent makes a "Canada edition" that is otherwise identical but declared "NOT a meal replacement"?
  • by RunawayGalaxy on 10/24/17, 1:14 AM

    From what I understand, Soylent severely underestimates the importance of fiber in the human diet.
  • by grandalf on 10/24/17, 1:31 AM

    I got a Soylent subscription and it's pretty good to have it around for those times when you really don't want to spend any time preparing food and want something moderately nutritious and fairly inexpensive, with near-infinite shelf life.
  • by mrleinad on 10/24/17, 2:53 PM

    A bit off-topic, but food related: visited the US a month ago and noticed that almost _everything_ contains corn syrup. What's the deal with that? How come most things (even a plain pot of honey) gets it mixed with the rest of the ingredients? Is it because of cost saving for the manufacturers, or are there some health benefits from consuming corn syrup?

    Please ignore if this comment is too offtopic for this thread.

  • by simonsarris on 10/24/17, 1:29 AM

    Serious questions for people that drink this stuff:

    My breakfast is often Siggi's 4% skyr (thick yogurt): http://siggisdairy.com/product/plain-whole-milk-24oz/

    Plus Organic valley heavy cream: https://www.organicvalley.coop/products/cream/

    Ususally about 300g + 100g, then sometimes some granola (oats, almonds, sometimes honey), for body.

    Soylent is:

    * 37g carb

    * 21g fats

    * 20g protein

    What I'm eating is much healthier by my estimation:

    * 16g carb

    * 49g fats

    * 35g protein

    (Before granola, which you can use to moderate the carbs if you want.)

    It is not hard to mix two things together, sometimes three. If you really want to custom flavor it, buy a jam (I suggest Mymoune rose petal jam, from Lebanon, but there are millions of flavors when you pick your own jam!)

    What is so good about soylent? Why not just mix skyr and heavy cream if that's the kind of meal you want?

    Why eat a strange synthetic meal from a company that has trouble with rats and mold when you could eat a couple simple whole foods? What problem is Soylent solving, exactly?

    And aren't you worried about the unfavorable omega 3:6 ratio in this stuff? Just going off the ingredients they list, I can't find any literature they give on the ratio. (If you're not up to speed, the latest: http://openheart.bmj.com/content/openhrt/3/2/e000385.full.pd... )

    (Diet Note: I'm 5'10 and 146 lbs male, 12-13% body fat. In my diet I aim for ~60-70% calories from fat, but don't always hit it.)

  • by rusty__ on 10/24/17, 2:47 PM

    Maybe when it comes back to Canada they can do something about their ridiculous Canadian pricing system where the same product for a Canadian shipment is charged more in USD than a US shipment. 'Free Shipping' though (-__-)
  • by ssijak on 10/24/17, 2:16 PM

    I always hated Soylent. Their bold and false marketing (things like "We solved nutrition.", "Complete nutrition no matter which flavor you choose."). If it was me, I would ban them everywhere, not just Canada, because of that false advertising.

    It is one thing, making a drink and selling it, and another marketing it like that. It was very painful from the start listening how 2 guys with no background SOLVED NUTRITION. And their choice of ingredients is bad in my opinion. Main ones are soy and sunflower oil. Really, find me at least one balanced nutritionist who would recommend sunflower oil in large quantities (hint : omega 3:6:9). Soy has it`s problems too. Then they mix some vitamins and minerals in, but you skip on all of the micronutrients and anything else from real food that is not in Soylent. Also very low fiber. Then your digestion will have problems too eating liquid only for long term. Etc, etc.

    If you need occasional meal replacement, there are dozens of well-established companies which make one, with much better quality and price in both liquid or powder form.

  • by loufe on 10/24/17, 12:36 AM

    Got the email 6 hours after my Canada Post notification of shipment - lucky me?
  • by allanmacgregor on 10/24/17, 12:10 AM

    Well damn! I just got what likely will be my last shipment for a while now.

    That sucks I been using soylent for months now.

  • by YeGoblynQueenne on 10/24/17, 4:09 PM

    The post is vague enough about the specific regulations it's supposed to have broken. This doesn't make the Canadian government's regulations look overly stringent, it instead makes Soylent look like they're trying to not scare off their customers, at best.
  • by pumpaction on 10/24/17, 1:18 AM

    Perhaps Canadians with an interest in Soylent could use locally sourced hospital-type meal replacements instead?

    If obtained from medical suppliers, they'll probably be healthier and have better quality control too.

  • by loeg on 10/24/17, 12:48 AM

    Title: should be "CFIA."
  • by aianus on 10/24/17, 3:42 PM

    Can we get around this by using a reshipping service from the US? Or would those shipments be blocked as well?
  • by cisanti on 10/24/17, 12:50 AM

    Are that kind of drinks popular in North America and if, then why..?

    I'm having problems understanding why would anyone want to consume something like that.

  • by nether on 10/24/17, 12:42 AM

    Huel (another powdered food) is running into this. They just started shipping to the US, but are delayed with Canada because they say the regulations there are "much more stringent." Canada outright banned rBGH.
  • by nilved on 10/24/17, 2:19 PM

    This is fairly ridiculous. I'm once again ashamed to be Canadian.
  • by retox on 10/24/17, 12:51 AM

    Pure nanny state behavior, this is people in power wanting to control what their subjects are allowed to do because they think they know best. Smaller government can't come soon enough.