I find the H&S flavours I’ve tried so far too salty! The tomato one is ok, but the Thai Green Curry and especially the Mexican Chilli taste really salty to me. And it looks like they’re really close to the maximum recommended daily salt intake (if you were to eat them 100%, which I don’t but in practice plenty of other food has loads of salt in it too), which seems like a shame because we know less salt is better for you even within the recommended range.
I’ve seen others say the opposite, that they even add salt (mind your blood pressure!), but since you can always add salt but you can’t take it away, and a lot of us eat Huel partly for health reasons, why not go a bit easier on the salt?
Personal opinion here, but I’d disagree - I’d say the Mexican Chilli is perfect, TGC needs a little more
Of course I can appreciate your concerns of the RDA.
Perhaps to reduce sodium content without hindering taste, Huel could look at adding MSG as a substitute for a little salt?
Thanks for your feedback Oliver. If you don’t add much (or any) salt to your food I can understand how it might taste like we’ve over done the salt. Taste is subjective after all.
At around 1g of salt per portion I wouldn’t say that’s a lot, especially compared to ready meals. It’s quite important for flavour. The salt amounts in Huel are perfectly fine regarding nutrition, some organisations recommend a lower salt intake, others higher. It’s a balance between taste and nutrition.
MSG is a great ingredient, unfortunately due to consumer perception it’s unlikely to be used.
Yeah, I’d heard lots of bad things about MSG as a kid. And the perception has stuck; I’ve started adding it to hot and savoury after someone mentioned it a while ago and it really works. It livens up tomato and herb for sure but can totally see it would be bad for Huel themselves to add it due to negative connotations.
It’s weird, I feel the opposite. Not quite salty enough and needs a little extra something to feel complete.
Honestly, I add a bit of MSG (Accent brand) to every single Huel H&S that I make because of this, along with other accents like a shake of adobo, a squeeze of lemon, miso paste, or jalapeno hot sauce. It really wakes up the meal and adds a new dimension to the flavor profile without adding a lot of excess sodium. Takes it from a 7/10 to a 10/10 taste-wise and helps me legitimately crave Huel over junk food.
The risotto-esque consistency of H&S is the perfect vehicle for MSG. It’s a shame that consumers have bought into the irrational fear-mongering around MSG, because I can definitely see Huel adding it in to the base package otherwise to help with the umami flavor.
Yeah I find them a bit too salty too. A full gram per portion is a lot as that very close to the recommended maximum allowance, and twice as much as the minimum intake.
It’s odd that someone may compare Huel to ready meals. Equalling or just beating the unhealthiness of ready meals shouldn’t be a Huel goal. Huel used to be a health food, it seems its not exactly the case anymore
It’s not odd at all, a lot of people eat ready meals where H&S would be a better option.
I think you may have misinterpreted what I’m saying. The amount of salt is within the RDA, it’s fine. There’s also a balance between taste and acceptability, you can make the best nutrition product out there, but very few people will eat it if it doesn’t taste nice.
If salt is a major concern for you other Huel products have a lower salt amount e.g. Huel RTD banana.
If you are concerned about excess salt then you can can exercise more to loose it through sweat. It may be easier to drink more water to loose it through urine.