Particularly the iron content is only 19mg which is far less excessive than 69mg. More folate is probably good too.
Could Huel add these improvements in the UK too?
We’re constantly looking at new possible improvements to Huel formulae
Good to hear, but what does that really mean? Are you going to cut down the iron content in the future? Will you increase the folate?
Will Huel US and Huel UK have different formulas / versioning?
They already have different formulas and versioning. E.g. the US Huel meets US RDAs but not the EU RDAs, and vice versa. US Huel is version 1.0 whereas EU Huel is version 2.2.
It will likely stay that way.
I’ll second this - Is the US version going to be the new normal if it’s better? If so, when can we expect it in the UK? If it’s not as good, why has it changed for that market? I’m loving Huel, but obviously want to get the best version of it we can!
I wouldn’t imagine so. Simply; US RDAs aren’t the same as EU RDAs. It’s a barrier for EU food companies that want to expand into the US, but it’s also a barrier the other way around and Soylent are also apparently looking into reformulating for when they launch over here.
For anyone interested, here is a comparison between US Huel, EU Huel, and a product that meets both US & EU RDAs:
The document is not made by me, I found it on r/soylent
The US version meets RDAs for the US which, for some micronutrients, are greater than those of the EU. We do look at all nutritionals and, if the evidence is satisfactory, we may consider adjusting our formula.
The US will have different versioning to the EU.
Isn’t that a wee bit weird? Shouldn’t you be able to make one that satisfies both regions’ requirements?
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Do humans in the US have different nutritional requirements than those in the EU?
Have you ever eaten American cadburys chocolate by any chance? It’s awful. They’ve also managed to legally ban the import of UK cadburys so that no-one realises how much better it is in the UK
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I find it hard to believe either US or UK Cadbury are made to meet RDA:s of nutrients.
That’s a question you’ll have to pose to the US FDA and the European Union.
Huel is nutritionally complete food - thus it must satisfy the nutritional requirements locally. The UK is our main market, therefore Huel sold in the UK satisfies the nutritional requirements for the UK and the EU. Due to the size of the USA it makes sense to release a bespoke formula for the USA in the same way the UK has it’s own formula.
The grass is not always greener Huelers! Sometimes it is just a bit different!
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So, are some of the minimum requirements in one market higher than the maximums in the other?
Sorry to drag this out, I’m just curious.
American Huel is made in Canada so I expect sourcing is a large factor in the formula differences. Here are some ways I think American Huel is better/worse:
- American version has more folate. The latest EFSA report seems more inline with America now. There was a thread about someone with folate deficiency on EU Huel.
- American version has more potassium. The latest EFSA report also suggests more potassium. I made a thread about this before.
- American version doesn’t appear to have lutein/zeaxanthin which I think is important to have.
- The American version doesn’t have over the upper limit of iron – although I believe that was thought to be the case in the EU version before they measured the iron content themselves.
The folate/potassium changes would be nice for the EU Huel, as would reducing iron which worries me.
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No. You can see it in the spreadsheet that all values are below the tolerable upper intake (except for EU Huel value for Iron).
It is possible and easy to have a product that satisfies all EU/UK/USA/Nordic nutritional requirements, and there are products on the market that are like this.
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Lol, no. Just that each country has its own version of cadburys milk chocolate that taste wildly different.
There are lots of examples where seemingly one product is sold in different variations around the world.