Original v2.3 recipe changed – with added salt?

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Hi @Andrew23

Thanks for raising this. The recipe for Original flavour Huel (only) has indeed been tweaked and this change happened 3-4 weeks ago. The reason for the change is driven by the flavour system and not the addition of sodium chloride and it is only Original vanilla that’s been changed.

You have highlighted the fact that the label image on the website hasn’t been updated. This should have been actioned. It will be done asap. Massive apologies for this.

  1. The reason for the change is this: we launched new Vanilla at the same time as the v2.3 change in December 2017. We were kinda hoping that we would phase out Original vanilla over the coming months. However, Huelers still love Original (myself included) so it absolutely must stay.

However, here enters an issue for us … when we launched Huel in 2015, we used an off-the-shelf flavour system (ie the one used previously in Original vanilla). The flavour system was all-in-one: flavours, carriers, sweeteners and flavour enhancers. We had no control over the components of this and we’re not happy about that. So, when we had more resource, we worked with flavour houses to develop our own flavours. These are the other flavours, you’re seeing and enjoying in Huel now (more to come :wink: ). The flavour system used in Original was higher in sucralose than others and we are striving to reduce sucralose where possible. We also knew that for supply reasons we couldn’t stick with this flavour system. So, for many months, we’ve been working to replicate the flavour system used in Huel Original. We tried many iterations and when we thought we’d found one that tasted the same. We trialed this one with what is known as a triangle test (where a cohort blind test and select or - if they can’t - guess the odd one out). Significantly more people got it wrong, which indicated that there was no appreciable difference. So we ran with this.

As Original is the only flavour that’s been tweaked, it is not a version change. A version change would be a notable difference to the nutritional profile and affect all flavours. The sucralose level of this Original is now in line with the others too (as shown here).

  1. As part of the flavour profile replication, sodium chloride is also added. This is the reason for the inclusion and why Original has a slightly higher salt level than the other flavours. The sodium chloride is not added with nutritional motivations.

  2. As explained, significantly more people could spot no difference. However, either some subjects did or some some simply guessed correctly. You are obviously someone who can tell the difference. Note, the addition of salt is not the reason why we changed Original, but it was a necessary part of the change. The level of salt in Huel Original is still very low albeit slightly (16%) higher than the other flavours.

  3. No.

I hope this addresses your very valid issue, and apologies that this has marred your Huel experience. If you would like your Original swapping for another flavour, please contact our Customer Service team.

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