Soylent

[[File:Soylent drink.jpg|thumb|right|165px|A prepared glass of Soylent, a scoop of Soylent powder, and a bag of Soylent powder]]
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{{cquote|At its core, Soylent feels like an extension of [[capitalism]] and a byproduct of one of Silicon Valley’s most harmful [[Ideology|ideologies]]: that we ought to forgo the [[human]] experience in favor of productivity. Why spend precious [[time]] on [[Earth]] connecting with friends and family over drinks and dinner when you could just throw back medical-grade slop alone at your desk instead?|||Ariana Bindman<ref>[https://www.sfgate.com/food/article/california-tech-world-soylent-scrambling-adapt-21219237.php One of the Calif. tech world’s saddest inventions has been hemorrhaging cash. Once a symbol of hustle culture, Soylent is scrambling to adapt] by Ariana Bindman (Dec 9, 2025) ''SFGate''.</ref>}}
'''Soylent'''™ 
Green
 is 
people
 a "nutritionally complete food"<ref name="times1">''[[The New York Times]]'', [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/29/technology/personaltech/the-soylent-revolution-will-not-be-pleasurable.html The Soylent Revolution Will Not Be Pleasurable]</ref> (or not<ref name=bbc>[http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41753732 Canada bans Soylent meal replacement over nutrition claims] (25 October 2017) ''BBC''.</ref>), or a way to get the culinary experience of {{wpl|Nutraloaf|prison loaf}} without the bother of going to [[prison]].

Ominously, Soylent™ was named based on the [[dystopia]]n film ''Soylent Green''.<ref name=bbc/> It may be a small comfort that Soylent™ was not named after the notorious [[Cannibalism|people-containing version of Soylent]] from the film ("Soylent Green is People!"), but named after the non-people containing ones (Soylent Red or Soylent Yellow).<ref>[http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/soylent-no-longer-to-be-sold-in-canada-1.4371535 Soylent can no longer be sold in Canada, food inspection agency rules: Company says CFIA requirements 'do not reflect the current understanding of human nutritional needs'] (Posted: Oct 25, 2017 3:54 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 25, 2017 3:54 PM ET) ''CBC''.</ref> The adventurous can however find a recipe for Soylent Green on what was once the DIY section of the Solyent website, people not included.<ref>[https://www.completefoods.co/diy/recipes/soylent-green-11 soylent Green] by horsfield (Last updated September 19, 2016) ''Complete Food''.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160629011831/https://diy.soylent.com/recipes/soylent-green-11 soylent Green] by horsfield (Last updated Last updated June 5, 2015) ''DIY Soylent'' (archived on June 29, 2016).</ref>

Competitors of Soylent include "Space Nutrients" and "Schmilk" (whose website image looks like they shoveled some dirt off the ground).<ref>http://custombodyfuel.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/schmilk.jpg</ref>

Here in the astounding world of the future, we may not have our flying cars or jetpacks, but we ''do'' have our food pills. And it turns out they suck.

==Target market: geeks==
The gritty, oatmeal-like drink was created by tech entrepreneur Robert Rhinehart after he got fed up with the time and expense involved in eating in [[San Francisco]].<ref name="times1"/> The main target market appears to be Silicon Valley [[Transhumanism|technologists alienated by having a body]], who wish to optimise away all that tedious bio stuff. Rhinehart in particular tends to describe everything to do with biology as "rotting" or synonyms thereof.<ref>http://robrhinehart.com/?p=1331</ref>

Soylent is surrounded by Silicon Valley techno-[[libertarian]] batshit, e.g., Justine Tunney's suggestion that the [[poor]]s be denied food stamps and just given Soylent instead.<ref>http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jul/22/the-tech-utopia-nobody-wants-why-the-world-nerds-are-creating-will-be-awful</ref> It appears there are a sufficient number of Silicon Valley engineers with low standards of [[evidence]].

Rinehart's company, Rosa Labs, boasts about how processed and artificial it is,<ref>[http://faq.soylent.com/hc/en-us/articles/203709619-Soylent-Approach-to-Nutrition Soylent Approach to Nutrition]</ref> regarding other food manufacturers who brag about "[[Appeal to nature|natural]]" and "[[Organic food|organic]]" as having [[Food woo|the wrong end of the stick]]. In a similar vein, it is proudly manufactured with [[Genetically modified food|GMOs]].

==Composition==
[[File:Soylent-bottles-close.jpg|thumb|right|165px|There is no green on these bottles for a [[Human|reason]].]]
* It is not [[people]].{{fact|joke}}
* Soylent version 1.4 ingredients: High oleic sunflower oil, rice protein, oat flour, isomaltulose, [[Vitamin and mineral supplements|vitamin and mineral blend]] [potassium (as potassium gluconate), [[calcium]] (as calcium carbonate), choline bitartrate, magnesium (as magnesium oxide), [[vitamin C]] (as ascorbic acid), zinc (as zinc sulfate), vitamin E (as dl-alpha-tocopheryl acetate), vitamin B<sub>3</sub> (as niacinamide), copper (as copper gluconate), vitamin B<sub>5</sub> (as calcium ''d''-pantothenate), manganese (as manganese sulfate), vitamin B<sub>6</sub> (as pyridoxine.HCl), vitamin B<sub>2</sub> (as riboflavin), vitamin B<sub>1</sub> (as thiamin.HCl), vitamin A (as palmitate), chromium (as chromium chloride), folic acid, biotin, iodine (as potassium iodide), molybdenum (as sodium molybdate), selenium (as sodium selenite), vitamin K<sub>1</sub> (as phytonadione), [[Vitamin D|vitamin D<sub>2</sub> (as ergocalciferol)]], vitamin B<sub>12</sub> (as cyanocobalamin)], rice starch, modified food starch, soy lecithin, cellulose, [[salt]], flaxseed and safflower oil powder, docosahexaenoic acid (from algal oil), xanthan gum, sucralose.<ref>[https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0421/5993/t/14/assets/files_Complete-Soylent-Nutrition-Facts-1p4.pdf Soylent 1.4]</ref>

==Nutrition and health==
Soylent is not a supplement. The website says that the [[FDA]] classifies it as a food.<ref>[http://www.soylent.com/about/ About Soylent]</ref> (The FDA has not, of course, said a word about it &mdash; what actually happened is that the company got a lab to say that it qualifies.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/01/soylent-gets-tested-scores-a-surprisingly-wholesome-nutritional-label/|title=Soylent gets tested, scores a surprisingly wholesome nutritional label|first=Lee|last=Hutchinson|work=Ars Technica|date=29 January 2014|accessdate=11 June 2015|quote=However, the results of the nutrition testing done to gain the label have established that Soylent meets the Food and Drug Administration's standards for a whole raft of healthy claims: "Everything from reduced risk of heart disease and some cancers to absence of tooth decay," said Rhinehart. Based on the testing, he explained, Soylent can make many of the health and nutrient claims that the FDA tracks.}}</ref>)

The product was formulated by Rhinehart to meet the nutritional needs of the average human as those needs were understood circa 2014. (Carrie Poppy of ''[[Oh No Ross and Carrie]]'' pointed out that this understanding may prove to have been wrong.) It has come in [[vegan]]-ish<ref name=oops>[https://www.eater.com/2017/4/26/15441688/soylent-recall-undeclared-milk Oops, Soylent’s Maybe Not So Vegan After All: The company is recalling its drink mix for undeclared milk] by Whitney Filloon (Apr 26, 2017, 5:32pm EDT) ''Eater''.</ref> and regular versions. Version 1.2 and later are supposed to be vegan.<ref name=oops/><ref>[https://discourse.soylent.com/t/introducing-soylent-1-2/17956 Introducing Soylent 1.2] (Nov 2014) ''Soylent''.</ref>

There are zero studies showing that Soylent is a ''complete'' nutritional source, but the company claims the formula adds up that way. Eating Soylent according to the instructions provided means consuming about 2,000 calories<ref>Kilocalories, if you're British or pedantic.</ref> with levels of various nutrients considered appropriate for the average<ref>I.e., male</ref> adult.

An unfortunate, if not necessarily unintended, effect of subsisting on Soylent reported by reviewers is that it is boring and joyless,<ref name="times1"/> leading to a life as grey as the packets the stuff comes in. Another is that users are [[fart]]y<ref>[http://www.helloerik.com/my-5-5-months-on-soylent-the-joys-of-not-cooking My 5.5 Months on Soylent: The Joys of Not Cooking]</ref> and [[Fun:Shit|shit]] weird.<ref>[http://fourhourworkweek.com/2013/08/20/soylent/ Soylent: What Happened When I Stopped Eating For 2 Weeks]</ref>

Chronic consumption of some liquid diets is associated with dental caries.<ref>[http://plainfielddentalcare.com/liquid-diets-effect-on-teeth/ Liquid Diets and the Effect on Your Teeth] 03 Feb, 2014, Plainfield Dental Care</ref> Not chewing food for long periods of time may also have adverse affects on gums and tooth retention.

In 2017, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency banned the sale of Soylent in [[Canada]] because it did not meet their standards for products labelled as "meal replacements".<ref name=bbc/> It returned to Canada in 2020 after they changed the composition.<ref name=forbes>[https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinatroitino/2020/04/13/meal-replacement-startup-soylent-returns-to-canada-for-first-time-since-2017/#7b4577115d59 Meal Replacement Startup Soylent Returns To Canada For First Time Since 2017] (Apr 13, 2020) ''Forbes''</ref>

===Lead and cadmium===
Soylent ingredients appear to be cheaply sourced, leading to seriously questionable levels of [[lead]] and cadmium (along with other heavy metals). So you might want to avoid the stuff.<ref>[https://archive.is/EZfbg As You Sow Files Notice Of Legal Action Against Soylent Super Food]. Archived from ''PR Newswire'', 13 August 2015.</ref> Soylent counters these concerns with the fact that the levels of heavy metal in its products are only worrying by the standards of California's Proposition 65, which requires all food with heavy metal levels above a certain limit in the state to be clearly labelled as such, which Soylent… is not really.

The Proposition 65 warnings are in reality more of a "don't sue me" label to lawyers rather than an effective warning to California consumers, as their omnipresence has become a form of white noise.<ref>[https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130416/16513122731/if-everything-is-threat-then-nothing-is.shtml If Everything Is A Threat, Then Nothing Is] by Tim Cushing (Fri, Apr 26<sup>th</sup> 2013 7:39pm) ''techdirt''.</ref> Some have called the Prop 65 limit strict when compared to limits set by the FDA, WHO and other acronyms<ref>http://qz.com/481302/a-corporate-watchdog-says-soylent-contains-unsafe-levels-of-lead-and-cadmium/</ref> and Soylent themselves points out that their heavy metal levels are comparable to those found in some fish and wine.<ref>https://faq.soylent.com/hc/en-us/article_attachments/203065059/prop-65-meals.v2.rev_D.jpg</ref> However, most people do not have salmon and pinot three times a day for the rest of their lives, which is certainly Soylent's intended pattern of use.

Furthermore, do you really want to be asking the question "how much [[arsenic]] is too much"? The fact that Soylent has not addressed any of these disparities or even just stopped putting so much fucking lead in their food, and in fact has actually been fighting for their right to do so ''despite'' Soylent being a completely made-up, artificial product that they can change arbitrarily anyway{{efn|There have been 8 versions as of 2017<ref>[http://blog.soylent.com/post/154513593367/powder-17-now-shipping Powder 1.7 Now Shipping] Soylnet</ref>}} should perhaps tell potential customers something about how much value Soylent actually places on their lives.

==Independent reviews==
{{cquote|Imagine a meal made of the [[milk]] left in the bottom of a bowl of cut-rate cereal, the liquid thickened with sweepings from the floor of a health food store, and you have some sense of what it is like to consume the [[protein]]-packed shakes…|20px|20px|Sam Sifton, ''[[New York Times]]'' food editor<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/25/technology/the-taste-that-doesnt-really-satisfy.html The Taste That Doesn’t Really Satisfy] by Sam Sifton (MAY 24, 2015) ''New York Times.</ref>}}
{{cquote|It has a taste like grit… To anyone's who's going to try this on a regular basis… see a doctor first.|20px|20px|Dr. Ira Breite, gasteroenterologist<ref name="times2">[http://www.nytimes.com/video/technology/personaltech/100000002907606/soylent-taste-test.html?action=click&gtype=vhs&version=vhs-heading&module=vhs&region=title-area Taste Test: Could Soylent Replace Food?] by Sofia Perpetua and Chris Cascarano (May. 29, 2014 | 3:18) ''New York Times''.</ref>}}
{{cquote|…kind of dull, like smelling cardboard… There's no way any normal person would really want to drink that… If this was the only thing on [[Earth]] to survive, then what's the point of living, frankly?|20px|20px|Michael Madrigale, sommelier<ref name="times2"/>}}
{{cquote|This is sort of what I always imagined Ensure® would taste like… Not worse than… [couldn't name anything].|20px|20px|Julia Moskin, dining reporter<ref name="times2"/>}}

==See also==
*[[Fun:Soylent Green]]

==External Links==
* [http://soylent.com Soylent Website]
* [http://diy.soylent.com Make your own!]
* [http://www.spacenutrientsstation.com/buy Space Nutrients]
* [http://custombodyfuel.com/product/schmilk/ Schmilk]
* [http://www.meghantelpner.com/blog/the-soylent-killer/ A food woo-y look at the stuff]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

{{foodbox}}

[[Category:Food]]
[[Category:Food woo]]

Categories: Food, Food woo