Thanks a lot for the explanation on why more sugar needs to be added to these products in the first place. And thinking about it, of course it does make sense - provided there is no other way to bind humidity and make the bar a bar.
When it is explained well and people can be confident you tried and are trying to minimise sugar content, this should not be an issue. For me personally however it means I’ll still try to take most of my meals from the powdered source while supplementing the bars for practicality.
P.S.: I have not even received my first shipment of Huel yet and am waiting for it patiently. In the meantime I am doing a lot of research in the powdered food segment though with especially looking critically at sugar contents and long term potential diabetes impact.
Your approach best reflects how one has to be mindful of that when choosing your main or single source of nutrients. Studying medicine has made me sensitive to these issues and made my path through any supermarket way more straightforward in the process. Huel seems to have recognised that food is not just about convenience but about also responsibility towards our bodies and our planet. Options for the average consumer are poor right now and what starts as providing an option to those who care may hopefully go on to change the perceptions of many.
It is also just really cool to receive an answer to my concern by the founder of the company. Thanks for that!
@Marcus it hasn’t been finalised, probably naturally occurring fructose from dates, etc. But really sugar is sugar, yes there are some pros and cons of the different types but in general they are all bad and we want to keep them to the minimum.
When you consider what’s in them, are they really any “better” than something like http://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/oats-whey/10529358.html (which with all the MyProtein discounts floating around are generally available for around 80p each, albeit for ~315cals rather than ~385cals)?
To me the huge advantage of Huel is the thought that has gone into the formula (no soy, no maltodextrin, barely any sugar etc). I appreciate that the Huel Bars won’t be quite so “perfect” for the reasons Julian mentioned above, but I imagine they will be much closer than the Twennybars, thus justifying a premium over something like those MyProtein bars.
My problem with bars is that they’ll probably be baked, thus destroying the good fats in the flaxseeds. I would prefer a bar that is raw, perhaps set in the freezer to bind, rather than baked in the oven?
I get worried about seeing so many ingredients going into a bar. Those Twenty bars look terrible - defeats the point of having a healthy bar. If Huel does come out with something I’d like it to be simple as possible to align itself with the company philosophy. Getting away from, syrups, E’s, chemicals, flavourings and other chemicals are many reasons why people have joined the Huel bandwagon
Huel could use VitaFiber - the binding agent in Quest Bars. The fibre science behind it is very interesting (isomaltooligosaccharides) - but it seems it might not be all it’s cracked up to be (the nutritional characteristics are in doubt).
This guy doesn’t give a s**t if competition knows his plans. He clearly thinks the benefits of his (potential) customers to know them in advance outweigh the negatives.
I don’t know how to describe it - there’s a good bite to it, not too hard and not too soft. I’m sure you could adjust the chewiness in proportion to the amount of added Vitafiber.
Edit: Maybe it’s something like the soft insides of a freshly baked scone in consistency - just less fluffy. I’ve had brownies that were like this consistency in the past. Presumably it’s kinda like a Quest bar but I’ve never tried one of those.
Edit2: I purchased a Quest bar and the consistency is definitely similar in some ways.
The VitaFiber/Huel bar definitely works down to 10g of VitaFiber. So that should just be an additional 20kcal instead of 30kcal. I doubt it will go much lower than that, while still being able to call it a “bar”. But I’ll try some more tweaks - could try to use all the Vitafiber as a base rather than a “sweet matrix” throughout the bar.
Edit: Well, well, well - It contains Isomaltooligosaccharide Fiber. Vitafiber, as I mentioned above, is an example of an IMO. It works great for binding homemade Huel bars, without impacting the nutrition too much. I would encourage anyone working at Huel to order some VitaFiber and follow my simple recipe above!
I didn’t actually bake/cook the bar, I just microwaved the VitaFiber & water. It serves as the “sweet matrix” that provides the structure/texture to the bar (as it cools).