@Tim_Huel is there any more news on this?
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I honestly thought it was just in my head. To me it tastes like the smell of Huel after you’ve left it sitting in the shaker over the weekend, if that makes any sense at all? (I did that once when forgetting to take it from work and it made me gag)
It tastes A LOT different to my first couple of orders.
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That really sounds like the powders getting hot during transit. I’ve left a bag of (part used but sealed) powder in front of a window ages back and it basically ruined it. Same sour taste as if I’d left a shaker bottle in the sun.
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That’s actually a good sum of the problem.
I can’t drink it even with fs.
Could the proportions be off? I mean, Huel going from tasting great to tasting grim, is not due to minor variation in flavor or such. 
I think you’re probably right, it only seems to have started tasting funny now that we are having this hot weather. Hope they can come back with an answer.
Something is definitely going on for all these people to notice, I hope they can get it back to how it used to be 
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I’d put money on it. I normally have a 900ml Huel on my desk all afternoon at work to gradually drink from, but smell and taste are both definitely well on the turn already. Same yesterday, mixed Huel just isn’t lasting long with the heat. Stands to reason powder wouldn’t either.
So exactly what is the solution if its due to heat? It’s hard to turn off the sun I mean, and not being able to use Huel over the summer sounds like a bad deal
Have you performed lab tests on returned bags - if so- was anything detected out of the ordinary?
Have you tried above mentioned theory by exposing the bag with powder inside to heat/sunshine for a period of time to see how taste is altered?
Could it be proportions of ingredients being off? My Original Vanilla batch has significant less vanilla and sweetness than previous orders, both in scent and flavor.
I also wonder if anyone over there has taste tested these batches, and if so, do they also feel that they are strange in flavor?
I’ve noticed a smell like this before, a kind of burnt plastic burning smell, but I soon realised it wasn’t in the powder itself, but was from the pouch that I’d just opened and the smell was on my fingers that I’d ripped the packet open with. As soon as I transferred the powder to another container I haven’t noticed it since. Just a thought - Do you get the same smell if you use scissors to open the packet?
Interesting - I’m due an order in a week or 2 I think.
I’ll keep the empty packs to do a comparison.
I decided to try a replacement from another batch instead of a refund - I need my Huel! As soon as I have the new bags I’ll let you know if they are fine! Let’s hope.
my unflavoured & unsweetened one seems to be a lot better than vanilla, don’t know how it is for you or anyone else.
Hi guys @Tim_Huel is on holiday, so I’ll reply. Thanks for all your feedback. This is where we are:
We pulled pouches from the same batches and carried out blind comparison taste tests and the results showed no differences. This makes it very hard to find out what was causing the issue, especially as batch numbers with which issues were raised also varied. Obviously there is an issue as a number of you have highlighted it here and we have also had customers raise the same issue by email.
We looked at packaging and this is the reply from the pouch supplier:
No changes to the material specification for Huel.
It is doubtful that a taint issue would come from the packaging. It is a triple layered film, with the print sandwiched between the met/pet layer and the pe. As you know PETMET offers a very high barrier resistance in packaging. I would not think a temperature change would have any impact on the packaging unless this temperature increase was significant enough (for example in an oven) , but even then it would be highly unlikely that a taint issue would occur.
We can’t just do ‘lab tests’ because we don’t know what we’re testing for! We perform regular testing of all Huel products.
Heat tests: this is also part of our QC - we sell in Arizona (<45 degress C) where couriers have left boxes out in the heat so we needed to be sure there was no issue! Do bear in mind, these complaints were from May, not from the past 2 weeks of 28-30 degrees C.
We’re really sorry a number of you have experienced an issue and we’re continuing to investigate. We also really appreciate this feedback, even though it’s not positive. We really want Huelers to have a positive experience 100% of the time.
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Have you noticed any difference in amount of complaints over the last few weeks? Wondering because I want to know if the issue might be resolvning on its own in case its temporary
@JamesCollier I just drank from old batch of Original I had left and I can absolutely without a doubt say it’s a world of difference. The new bags must have been severely underdosed in vanilla fs+sucralose. Possible the machines ran low on these or something? I don’t detect any plastic smell/taste, more like dirt, but that could possibly be because of too low amounts of above mentioned to cover it up?
Anyway, old batch tasted as lovely as I’ve gotten used to with Huel. New batch tasted like dirt! Maybe something to investigate.
Hi @Squizzle - I do not doubt you’ve noticed a difference as you’re not the only one. However - like I said above - when we did comparisons we couldn’t find anything. I’m sure you can acknowledge that this makes evaluating really hard. Machines don’t ‘run low’.
Yes, we have actually had a spike in complaints regarding flavour; but - like I said - we acknowledge there’s an issue!
We will continue to investigate.
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Havent there been some opened bags returned with their unusual tasting/smelling contents? That would all ow verification of existence of problem and able you to focus in.
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@JamesCollier I can totally empathize! I work in software development, and there’s nothing worse than a bug a user or users report “happens all the time” and yet they can never make happen in front of you. Trying to figure out what’s wrong when you can’t even see it happen is really frustrating.
Good on you for trying!
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I also have a New Vanilla bag with a very odd taste, sort of plasticky aftertaste. I opened it about 2 weeks ago, and immediately noticed an oddity - the transparent inner plastic had almost totally separated from the outer metallic bag on one side, which I’ve never seen before. Image here:
Batch 6157 09:10 am, Best Before 05/2019
I’ve continued to use it, but it’s definitely not very good compared to my first batch of New Vanilla. Bit worried about the other NV bag and 2 Original bags I ordered at the same time.
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