Sunday, October 29, 2017

Soylent Banned In Canada

Not to put too fine a point on soi-disant Soylent "Food reformatted", but hasn't the Silicon Valley bro-appeal passed its sell-by date on this stuff?

From Eater, a not-quite-accurate headline on a decent story, October 25:

Canada Bans Soylent for Not Being Real Food
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the meal replacement doesn’t meet requirements
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has banned meal-replacement product Soylent.
According to an announcement from Soylent, the agency found that the product does “not meet a select few of the CFIA requirements for a ‘meal replacement'"; effective this week, it cannot be sold in the country.

A note from Soylent CEO Rob Rhinehart seems to rebut the decision, implying that the agency’s standards are outdated. It also states that Soylent will abide by the government decision — although it’s not exactly like Soylent has a choice here.

“We feel strongly that these requirements do not reflect the current understanding of human nutritional needs, we respect the CFIA’s regulations and will fully comply with any regulatory action they deem appropriate.”

Soylent, which The Verge has described as “powdered science” and “a thick nutritional sludge” is intended as a futuristic substitute for eating actual meals — the powdered substance is mixed into a relatively flavorless drink that gives the drinker the calories and nutrients that a meal would normally provide. Developed in Silicon Valley, it is marketed at tech industry types who are too busy or important to lose precious time to purchasing or preparing food with flavors and textures....MORE
Here's the company's statement on the matter:
 
Previously:
Oct. 7