Soylent Stops Sales Of Nutritional “Food Bars” After Customers Report Becoming Violently Ill
If you count on a Soylent nutrition bar to keep the hunger at bay during your long work day, you might want to find an alternative. That’s because the meal replacement startup has halted sales of the bars – which debuted earlier this fall – after receiving reports from customers who became ill after consuming the snack.
Soylent announced on Wednesday that it would take a precautionary measure by halting all Soylent Food Bar purchases and advising customers who already have them in the pantry to discard the meal replacement product.
The Food Bar was described by the company as an “excellent snack or small meal… offering the same complete nutrition [as Soylent drinks and powders], but in a lighter, more portable form factor.”
“It has recently come to our attention that a small number of our customers have experienced gastrointestinal issues after consuming Soylent Bars,” the company said in a statement, noting that it takes the reports — which include customer bouts with stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting — “extremely seriously.”
After hearing from these consumers, the company says it “immediately began investigating the cause of the issue and whether it was linked to a problem with the bars.”
For now, the company says it has not identified the cause of the issue and its other products, including drinks and powders, do not seem to be affected.
“Though our investigation into this matter continues, we have decided to err on the side of caution and take this preventative step,” the company says. “We are deeply sorry if any customer had any negative experiences after eating a Soylent Bar.”
Customers should expect to receive an email from Soylent related to refund options.
Gizmodo reported last week that customers posting on Soylent’s own forum and a Soylent subreddit described becoming violently ill after consuming the snack bars.
In one post a customer describes experiencing intense vomiting about three to four hours after eating a Food Bar.
“The vomiting lasted several hours. I think it was probably the worst vomiting episode I ever experienced. I did not experience diarrhea,” the customer wrote on the subreddit.
Another user said he became “so nauseous” he had to puke and followed that episode with diarrhea.
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