Firstly, I actually really like the product and support it 100%, I’m actually on an entirely vanilla Huel diet and couldn’t praise it more highly for the most part. It fuels my life and exercise regime perfectly. Despite this post I have actually ordered another weeks supply yesterday that will be delivered tomorrow.
As the subject suggests though, I have recently found blue plastic that resembles a thin sort of strand. Not dissimilar in fact to the frayed edges of blue tarp or that material they make laundry bags out of as shown below (well hopefully, assuming it has uploaded corectly).
The piece is actually about an inch long and was found in the first of two bags which I ignored as a one off and found no more. However in the second bag I have found considerably more as I have reached about 2/3 of the way down and have in fact had to throw away some servings after finding too many strands of blended blue plastic to be worth picking out.
By no means am I complaining or want a refund or any such service it’s just worth noting in case of any other contaminants that perhaps made it into the batch. Particularly as I have been suffering some digestive issues this last week or so which may or may not be entirely unrelated. Anyways fingers crossed the next order is smurf-skin free and keep up the otherwise great work.
I used to work in a food processing plant and blue is used as it is supposed to show up clearly if it contaminates the food, as you don’t (generally) get blue food.
It looks like someone made a mistake, but it’s strange quality control didn’t spot it
Your pictures should be sent to the factory so they can investigate it. Maybe the factory will send you an apology and a freebie.
I used to check meat for hairs (v small cow hairs) and bone chippings prior to sending to McDonald’s, we’d get batches sent back for very tiny contaminations
Yeah I actually thought it was a blue plaster until I fished it out of the bag knowing those are mandatory for the same reason. I was more than relieved to see it wasn’t.
I did think it was very strange to have not been picked up on though and wonder whether it was a mistake during the manufacturing or packaging process. Although I suspect both are done somewhat simultaneous and are practically one in the same.
I’d much prefer the smurf skin to cow hair though all the same.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Please accept our sincere apologies. Clearly this is unacceptable and we will replace your pouch asap.
The material in the photo is from the bags that ingredients of Huel come in, the pea, rice etc, which are are quite flimsy. We’ve spoken to the supplier about this issue, but they have not been prepared to change their bags.
There is quality control in place to try to limit how often this happens. However, on very rare occasions like this they are missed.
To stop this in the future, we have bought a £10,000 motorised sieve and custom stand which is incredibly fine and will only allow Huel to pass through. You can view it in action in this video:
We will also be pre-checking the bags by emptying them into food grade container first, then the Huel will be blended, after which it will be placed through the sieve I just mentioned.
What I should stress is this does not effect the healthiness of Huel at all. The material comes from the bags the ingredients were shipped in, and thus are completely clean, so will not affect the safety in terms of any contamination.
The motorised sieve will be installed this week and no more Huel is being produced until that is completed, and whilst we hope there is no delays, this may cause Huel to become temporarily out of stock.
No need to apologise, these things happen. It’s only a shame your suppliers aren’t as committed to its customers as those of you at Huel.
I have to say I’m thoroughly impressed by the level of response and the action taken to rectify the problem. A shining example of how to do business and look after ones customers. Even the bratty 20 somethings like myself.
Also, thank for you the offer to replace the pouches I have had to dispose of, as a Brit I’m far too polite to turn down a gift. I’m also relieved to hear no smurf based genocide took place in the factory.
The first I let slide in case it was contaminated after opening the bag, but now that I’ve found a second small piece, I’m pretty sure it’s not a freak coincidence.
The plastic is smaller and looks different to the above pictured, and actually resembles the plastic coating on the bag (it is frayed at the top where you have to tear it open…perhaps it’s a design flaw in the bag?).
I’m terribly sorry about this. I have contacted our facility to find out exactly what it could be. This is the first report since the motorised sieve was fitted, so it is concerning. I will update as soon as I have any information.
