Scientifically illiterate meatheads think it makes men weak and effeminate.
Or you can’t eat it due to medical reasons.
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Of course, like gluten, some people are intolerant, but the whole “gluten-free” craze was really dumb
Hey everyone. I can totally see where you are all coming from. We don’t put in our advertisements that Huel is GMO-free. You can see on our site that we state Huel is GMO-free, because it is.
@Tristan I can see what you mean with the marketing message. When people ask about Huel being organic the follow-up question tends to about GMOs so the CE team always tries to be proactive in that sense.
On our FAQ page we provide more information as to why Huel is labelled as GMO-free. I will post the answer here for convenience:
"Huel is labelled as GMO-free because it’s important to some consumers, whether you share the same view is another matter. In the UK and EU there are genetically modified corn and rapeseed varieties that are approved for use in foods, but we feel they offer no benefits for Huel in terms of cost, consumer acceptability and several other factors. Therefore, Huel is GMO-free.
It’s important to note that concerns about GMOs should be made on an individual crop and technology basis, and a variety of scientific sources should be read to develop a better overall view of GMOs."
Around 90% of the soy produced globally is GM so Soylent don’t have much choice but to use GM crops and they have decided to own it. That’s cool.
Happy to have this discussion so let me know what you all think especially @theajmsn.
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The problem is that by labelling Huel as GMO-free, you are reinforcing the idea that it’s something to be concerned about.
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Yeap I appreciate that point of view and the fact for some people it may do that. However, there are some legitimate concerns for GMO (mostly around the way it is researched and applied rather than the technology itself). Therefore, Huel is labelled GMO-free because it is, just like Huel is labelled vegan.
Some people don’t like things being labelled as vegan but to others it’s important. It’s the same argument for organic.
What will happen on both sides is there are right and wrong points. If someone asks why we are GMO-free we explain, as I am doing now. If they came out and said “good you’re GMO-free because I don’t want an organsims DNA incorporated into my own” we would explain why this is wrong and not just agree to make that extra sale. It’s not what Huel is about.
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Labelling it as gmo-free or gluten-free or vegan doesn’t mean everyone is going to think that gluten, meat, or gmo is bad (although yeah that did happen for a while a few years ago with gluten until there was more education around it).
There will always be people that don’t bother to research nutrition or science or biology or facts, and others that follow fads without thought.
Stating it is GMO free is stating the truth and being transparent (would you rather they didn’t label it? That seems less honest)
It’s not the same as promoting no-gmo.
On the topic of Soy, it’s an allergen. I personally don’t tolerate it well. It’s not going to kill me, and can eat it very very occasionally in small quantities. But I absolutely can’t eat it every day.
If Huel contained Soy I would have to stop buying it.
For me, the biggest advantage Huel has over all the other similar products is their absence of allergens: nuts, gluten, soy, dairy. There is no other product that meets my dietary needs. So, for me, there is no competition. Some people buy Huel for the same reason, but many others buy it for different reasons and it wouldn’t matter to them if it contained soy.
On that subject (but a detour from this topic): I think a priority for Huel should be finding a way to remove the risk of mustard contamination. I have family members that are very allergic to mustard - not just intolerant but would go into anaphylactic shock at the slightest trace. It’s a serious allergen like nuts. @Dan_Huel are there any plans to find alternative factory facilities that would make Huel allergen free?
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I didn’t even realise that was a thing I googled it and I found loads of articles saying how it wasn’t true and all the research says it does not affect mens testosterone. Why do people believe things that clearly aren’t fact.
It’s the same with the antivaxxers theirs no scientific study in the world that says you or your kids shouldn’t be vaccinated.
The earth is flat tho
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There was some research a while back that suggested (suggested) that there were too many phyto-estrogens in soy for men to consume regularly without physiological changes.
Soy is also perceived as a ‘cheap’ ingredient when compared to oats and an allergen for some.
That’s a little disingenuous. We both know that Soylent purposefully choose to use GM not because it’s hard not to, but because the science is there to suggest its use is a net positive for the user, the environment and for Soylent as a company.
The thing is, labelling as vegan or not is easy; something either contains animal products or it doesn’t and it makes sense in the modern world. Anti-GM and organic isn’t the same binary choice because they feed into deeply flawed ideologies with little to no scientific reasoning behind them.
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I think I would prefer that, yeah. It should be irrelevant, and people who care about it shouldn’t be pandered to any more than people who care that none of the ingredients contain the letter Q.
However, I’ve realised that if Huel was labelled halal or kosher I wouldn’t have any objections, even though they have no scientific reason to be there either, which means
if anti-GM was an established religion I wouldn’t mind the label. Bah I need to think some more about this!
edit: presumably Huel is both halal and kosher but doesn’t put that on the label even though some people would want to know.
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It absolutely is the same.
EU/UK law states that if a human food product contains any GM it must be specifically approved for sale and then clearly labelled as ‘contains GM ingredients’.
If there are no GM ingredients then there is no need to label it to draw attention to ingredients it doesn’t have.
The only reason to put ‘no GMO’ on a label is to appeal to customers that believe GM ingredients are dangerous, and in doing so reinforce their beliefs, it says clearly “look, GM is an issue, so here’s a product that definitely has none”
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It’s a difficult one because at the end of the day huel is a company they need to make a profit, those staff nights out aren’t going to pay for them selves. If they see a way to market to stupid people for money then they’ll do it.
But if in the process they make the world worse, they deserve to lose customers. Which is the original point.
We all live on beige powder, and pay for the privilege. I think this is all of us 
That’s what a few of my friends think anyway
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Good point
I’m waiting for the densely compressed pill format.
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That’s why I’m glad Huel is in Sainsbury’s now. It makes it less alien for the unadventurous people like your (and my) friends.
When I was kid I was told there would be flying cars and your meal would be in a pill why has none of this happened yet?
Damn it I want my robot butler
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