So I’ve just placed my first order. I’ve dived right in. I’ve got the Drinks in both berry and vanilla. I’ve got the powders gluten free and the flavour boost sample pack…
I’m excited about it. I’ve read lots of good things. BUT can someone read this and maybe enlighten me into if this is accurate or anything for me to worry about…
'Joanna Blythman, an investigative food writer who has written five books on the food industry, took a fairly negative stance in this piece for The Guardian.
“There is almost nothing in there (Huel) in its natural form. These are very, very technologically altered hi-tech ingredients. They’re the opposite of what whole, natural foods are. If I read that list of ingredients on a product on a supermarket shelf, I would have a major problem.
“Look at the eighth item on the ingredient list. It’s called a ‘vanilla flavour system’. I mean, seriously, what is that? It’s not vanilla extract or vanilla pods or vanilla grains or even vanilla essence. You are talking about the very rarified regions of food processing and industrial food chemistry where basic ingredients are being mucked around with and transformed. There are these very intense chemical sweeteners in there. There’s sucralose; that’s something like 200 times sweeter than sugar. There’s maltodextrin – that’s another sweetener. And xylitol – that’s another one. It’s all just rubbish. And then there’s ‘pea protein’, which sounds good, doesn’t it, but what the hell is it? You’re treating peas with a number of complex, chemical reactions to extract some sort of beige powder.
“If I had to eat this, I’d lose the will to live pretty quickly.”’
She’s an investigative food writer…
Not a biologist, or nutritionist and doesn’t sound at all knowledgeable.
She also hasn’t researched the product, the science and nutrition behind it, the ingredients or the production methods: she has simply read the back of the packet and drawn some uneducated, unresearched conclusions about the product.
I’d say, if you want to know about Huel, the quality, source and production methods of the ingredients, then do exactly the opposite of what she’s done… and read the articles available on the Huel website.
I’m not going to explain here why I think her conclusions are wrong, because the freely available info on the website can answer your questions much better than I can.
If you have trouble finding the articles, just holler, and someone will post some links for you.
Just thought I’d also mention:
There’s no maltodextrin in Huel
There’s an article specifically addressing the reasons for choosing sucralose which doesn’t seem to have any of the negative health effects that other artificial sweeteners do.
Wait… what the what?
Someone much wiser than me once said “don’t stay awake past midnight. Nothing good ever happens after midnight”.
Good night.
Pinging @IcyElemental for a proper response. He knows these things!
But, ultimately… there is no maltodextrin. Or xylitol. And the vanilla flavoring is natural, says on website. Just 3 things on the top of my head.
I have no idea what those chemicals are anyway. And I don’t mind if Huel has chemicals in it as long as they are not unhealthy as I’m coming from a diet of constant takeaways and I just don’t want to live that food life anymore.
Been on Huel since May 2018 usually twice a day and one ordinary meal ( except for Xmas ) and I love it. Made some interesting mixes with the U/U (that one’s the mince pie I chucked in) .
I agree with Christina, read the vitamins & minerals section on the website, it explains what ingredients contain what vitamins/minerals and how and what the rest are made from. After reading I think you will be assured.
Huel has played a large part in my nutrition since 2016 and apart from also keeping physically fit I have never felt so healthy so they must be doing something right.
Good luck with your journey.
(that one’s the mince pie I chucked in) 
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