Are you mixing it with water or milk?
Milk in general makes my skin awful
Avoiding chocolate versions may help a littleā¦
Perhaps you are allergic to something or get too much histamine. Maybe you want to try Black Edition, as it contains fewer potential allergens.
If you are looking for a good topical product you might consider using Retinol. Some oils like tea tree or castor oil are also beneficial for such problems.
Iām getting the same with Huel Black. I only just started it about 5 days ago and now I have spots all over 
itās such as a shame as I love the banana flavour. The acne is all over my face - forehead, cheeks, nose but not really around the chin. I eat a healthy vegetarian diet and only just incorporated Huel Black to increase protein intake. I dont have a problem with flax seeds as Iāve taken them before but it could be the increased the B12 which is known to increase acne bacteria on the face. Might try to stop it for a few days to see if it helps. Has anyone else found a solution for this?
Hey Shona, Iām really sorry to hear this.
Thereās nothing obvious in Huel that may be causing this rash, however Iād like to ask you some questions to see if we can help further.
If youād rather, feel free to message me privately with these answers.
- How soon after consuming Huel does the rash appear?
- Are the spots raised or flat?
- When you have ceased consuming Huel how long does it take for the spots to clear?
Hi Dan,
Itās not a rash, itās acne. To answer your questions:
- I started nothing the spots appear the day after taking my first Huel black. I put it down to maybe not sleeping enough but it carried on and increased in number as the days went by. They are clearly inflammatory acne as Iāve had them with things like taking rancid omega 3 and homemade kimchi . Although I can take probiotics and other omega 3s without issue, including flax seeds. I dont suffer from acne in general.
- They are raised, red and some are pus filled.
- Iāve only just stopped taking Huel for a day and although the number of spots have slowed down it hasnāt completely gone yet.
To me this sounds consistent with B12 induced acne. I have noticed that I do get acne when Iāve taken multivitamins but I didnt think Huel would affect it since it claims to have a lower dose of B12. Iāve only been having Huel Black once a day.
Hi @shona
Thanks for replying to Dan. Sorry to hear all this; must be unpleasant.
This does, indeed, sound like it might be an intolerance to supplementary vitamin B12 and stopping for a few days might be wise. When theyāve cleared up, itās up to you if you wish to try Huel again. If not, please get in touch.
Same issue here. Never had acne in my whole life, and suddenly I started having breakouts like many reported in this thread.
I have stopped taking Huel (tried Coffee, Berry and Banana) and acne went away.
Then after about a month I started again, and acne came back 
Unfortunately I have to stop using.
I donāt think itās the B12 as well, as I have taken supplements in the past which contains B12, but never got acne as a consequence.
Hey James! Welcome to the global forum, but sorry to hear this.
If itās alright, I just have a couple additional questions!
- Do you know what form of B12 was used in the supplements youāve taken prior?
- Is there anything else in Huel that sticks out to you which youāve not had before?
- How often were you having Huel and how long after consuming did this start?
Feel free to DM me on the above if preferred, as well.
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Hi Charlotte,
I am not really sure about the vitamin B12 form. It usually comes in pre/lost workout blends, but could be in lower dosage WRT the Huel Powder.
It is hard to say whether it is really the B12 or another component (there are many) of the Huel Powder which causes the acne breakouts, but reading on medical sites there seem to exist an associativity among the two events.
I have started taking Huel at the beginning of July, and I do at most 2 meals/day, but the average is close to 1 meal/day.
If you have available a test powder w/out B12 (or with a lower dosage, or different type), I am willing to test it.
I would say this might something to consider, but completely agree that it could be thereās something else which you may not have had before and potentially arenāt tolerating.
- I know you mentioned when you stopped Huel it went away. Have you tried 1 scoop of Huel at a time and do you find you still get the same result as having 2+ scoops per day?
Unfortunately, we do not have any versions without B12 as itās an essential nutrient so itās in all of our products, but really appreciate the willingness to test it out to see too.
Let me know on the above!
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I would get a skin smear to rule out an infection. Maybe even a skin biopsy. Have you seen a dermatologist?
The strange thing is that the ingredients of Huel should rather work against acne. Flaxseed for example seems to lower testosterone levels, it can even be used to reduce acne symptoms. (The Effect of Flaxseed Supplementation on Hormonal Levels Associated with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: A Case Study - PMC)
What is also weird is that it even came back without Huel, while its first appearance seemed to have a clear correlation pattern with its consumption. That makes me think of a skin infection. Maybe you got a bad batch or something.
Thinking of a rather rare case sarcoidosis also causes skin lesions - actually it can cause very different types of it. Dietary changes are stress factors, and all kinds of stress can trigger a worsening of a preexisting but latent autoimmune disorder.
@CharlotteMW_Huel I have stopped taking Huel last week, and my skin went back to the usual all-clear.
I can try taking only one scoop, though that way the meal becomes a bit light. Will let you know how it goes.
If that works I could consider using Huel strictly for at most one meal a day.
@mbs At this point I am confident the acne is Huel induced. I did two on-off cycles, and both resulted with my skin going back to normal as soon as I stop using it.
I donāt think I said anything related to acne coming back w/out Huel. I said I have never had acne in my whole life, taking Huel caused breakouts, and stopping (twice) it resulted in the skin going back to usual.
I havenāt read the whole thread recently, and this has possibly been answered, but here is my input.
While I am not an expert in the field, nor a nutritionalist I am somewhat interested in B12 (being a vegan) as I get asked about 5 times a minute āwhere do you get your B12?ā
Now, there are 2 types of B12 in supplements: methylcobalamin and cyanocobalamin, and due to the way they are used by our intestines, the former may be more prone to make you come out in acne spots. Huel contains the latter, although even more rarely this can cause an issue.
For most people you can supplement with high does of B12 and it wonāt cause any problems
It would be interesting to see which other B12 containing foods you have been eating which have not caused an issue to see if it is the same or different. Most products contain cyano.
FWIW I supplement with both versions.
Iām no expert but I think maybe you are someone affected by B12 supplementation.
There is sone anecdotal (or is that acne-dotal) evidence that stevia can cause acne but I donāt think there are any proper studies on this. Stevia is a fairly new product on the UK marketā¦only approved in about 2011 and not widely available until much later.
If you do decide to give it a try as 1 scoop, please let us know how it goes. You can always add other things to it to and blend it up to make it more of a meal rather than a snack, though I know this would take a bit more work so is not ideal.
And if it occurs with one scoop too, Iād suggest not consuming Huel further until you can figure out what may be causing it and chatting with a dermatologist as @mbs suggested if you have not already to see if they can help to pinpoint the cause.
By the way: What is the omega-6/omega 3 fatty acid ratio in Huel?
This might also play a role.
@CharlotteMW_Huel Looks like reducing to at most one meal per day (100gr) made acne go away.
I am not sure, given the many components the powder is made of, which one is responsible for the breakouts. This seems also common with other meal replacement powders AFAICS.
Reading around, the major culprit in these cases seems to the B12.
For a 100gr dose, your documentation seems to state that a 34% daily amount is ingested. So even if doubling that, it is still below the maximum recommended dose.
There are other components which, for a 100gr meal, have a daily value > 50% (some >> 50%).
The body should get rid of the excess, but in some cases this might cause overload for certain organs (like protein for kidneys)?
Continuing the discussion from Huel and skin worsening after use:
I started taking huel black and im on my 4 th bag but Iāve broken out in painful cystic acne on my face ive never had acne in my life .i eat clean always no sugar ,dairy,etc so now im stopping to try clear this painful crap up i will never buy this stuff again .its ruined my skin .i will be going back to pea protein powder with nothing added
Ive just finished my last huel black edition and my skin has developed boils and cystic acne out of nowhere this has ruined my skin. I wish I had come across this thread before buying this crap if they know its causing people to break out why not take it out of their product surely that would be a win win .i definitely wont be reordering.
Hi Mike, Iām really sorry to hear this and apologies you didnāt get a response to your initial post.
Itās possible youāve had a rare reaction to the form of vitamin B12 we use (cyanocobalamin). Iād recommend not consuming Huel Black Edition anymore.
The reason we use cyanocobalamin is because itās the most suitable form for Huel products and, if this is the cause of your skin issues, itās very rare.