I would really like to reopen this discussion. I know there are old threads but I really feel this is important. Hot and savoury tastes too salty to me, I have to drink a lot of water after eating it.
My issue is the quantity of salt relative to the calories.
I know the nutrition team has said that 1g of salt (or thereabouts) per meal is not that high - but this meal is 400 calories. Now if I was eating a 600 calorie or 800 c meal I would expect to take in 0.5-0.75 g of salt.
The plain fact is that I find to too salty to be a healthy food.
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What else is there to reopen the discussion about?
If itās too salty for you then itās too salty for you, or are you hoping to bring about a recipe change?
Hi Jeff, as youāve said youāve read the other posts on this topic what new information are you hoping to obtain?
How salty a food is perceived to be varies between individuals and the product development team have settled on this amount of salt as for most people this is optimal for the flavour.
I would like to be able to think and recommend of Huel as a healthy food. At this level of salt I donāt feel I can do that.
I believe many people could be attracted to Huel because of its range of nutrients and the ease of counting calories.
Yes, I would ask for a recipe change (it certainly wonāt come if people donāt ask)
or perhaps a new variety aimed at middle aged people looking to count calories for health reasons - people who are active and health conscious but donāt do hours of sweating down the gym to lose salt (but maybe they play sport or walk etc for exercise but need to watch their blood pressure etc) - this has to be a huge market. Lower salt would be all it would take to make this a viable product.
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Iāll add my voice to that. I also find Huel Hot & Savoury too salty.
I thought I was imagining things. I thought that Huel would not put me at risk of excess sodium.
Your post made me do research and this was the post I found most informative:
"I noticed on The Huel Hot & Savory Formula Explained that the newer H&S pastas- particularly the Mac n Cheeze and Chickān & Mushroom - have fairly high levels of sodium.
2000 kcal of Chickān & Mushroom, for example, gives you 3000mg of sodium - the American Heart association recommends no more than 2,300 mg per day, with an ideal limit of just 1,500 mg of sodium.
The FDA dietary guidelines also recommend <2300mg per day.
So why so much sodium in something thatās supposed to be nutritionally optimal?"
I would welcome a recipe change. This information and Huels responses to this discussion have decreased my trust.
I DO have pasta for breakfast, and frequently 4 x Hot & Savoury per day.
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This feels like important information which I have so far not come across - also - I have been promoting 4 x H&S meals a day in a previous forum post, and no Huel nutritionist has stepped in to correct me:
āH&S are definitely more of an occasional bit of variety/comfort food rather than an every meal item. Their nutritional information recommendations says to have them only for 1-2 meals per day.ā
Well, itās an occasional ācomfortā food - and they only recommend having 1 to 2 H&S meals a day - so the salt level in that instance is perfectly fine. If someone chooses not to follow that guidance then it would be unreasonable to expect a recipe change to accommodate that?
it is on the product pages on the nutritional sections as well as the same areas on the packaging
Iāll echo the Reddit response to a similar statement:
"Yeah - I definitely donāt eat just H&S, but the beauty of H&S has always been that, when I eat it, I feel like what Iām eating is all nutritionally balanced - I donāt have to worry about the nutrition at all.
Now, with the pastas, Iād feel like Iād have to be watching how much sodium I eat through other foods for the rest of the day. Kind of ruins the vibe, you know?
It also just makes me feel a little disappointed in Huel - I trusted them to carefully balance all fhe nutrienfs so I didnāt have to. I donāt think they fulfilled that goal with the sodium content. And now Iām here second-guessing if thereāsany other nutrient I need to be careful about.
Not a huge deal at the end of the day,but definitely a disappointment."
Is there anything else I need to know about why Huel does not recommend H&S for any more than occasional use?
To be clear, the daily recommended limit for salt is 6g a day. Based on 0.5g salt per 800kcal meal this is only 1.5g for 2400kcal which is a quarter of this limit, it is extremely low and I donāt think foods need to have a salt content this low to form part of a healthy diet.
All Huel products can form part of a healthy diet. As @HJennyG youāve rightly mentioned the higher salt content of the H&S pastas letās talk about them. We have a recommendation because nutrition is an important factor, but not the only factor. As Iāve said in a previous post you need to consider a taste and what people expect from a ready-made pasta. You can make the best product in terms of nutrition but it doesnāt matter if it tastes terrible and no one will eat it. The amount of salt in the H&S pastas means weāve created a healthier, more sustainable yet still convenient and tasty meal alternative to other ready-made pasta products on the market.
I can understand your concerns around salt, but they really only come into play if youāre consuming the H&S pastas for all of your meals, which is something we donāt recommend for any of our products. If salt is a concern, there are other H&S flavours within the range with a lower salt content.
I donāt think you have to do this. Consuming a H&S pasta takes up around 25% of the RDA for salt, consuming a healthy diet throughout the rest of the day means this isnāt a concern.
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Thank you for your response Dan.
I would like to say, that if I felt capable of consuming a healthy diet for the rest of the day, I would not be eating Huel H&S pasta.
25% of my RDA of salt in 20% of my daily calories does feel like an issue worth addressing in a brand synonymous with balanced nutrition.
The idea of manually compensating after a H&S Pasta meal by consciously seeking foods healthier than a H&S Pasta meal (and by healthier I mean lower salt) feels out of character with what Huel stands for - and it is this that I think the OP was getting at.
Ie. I do not consume a healthy diet throughout the rest of the day, ā“, this is a concern.
I appreciate your point of view from a sales-perspective. Yet to remain simply healthier than other ready-made pasta products is a low bar to meet and does not feel inline with what Huel should strive to be.
Essentially, I have been shocked to learn what I have today.
Please consider matching the % RDA salt to the % RD calorie intake across the complete H&S range as expected by your consumers.
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Combined in the above post and edited for clarity.
I understand where youāre coming from and I appreciate eating a healthy diet can be tricky.
My final comment on this is a product isnāt simply healthy or unhealthy and a single nutrient (unless that extremely high/low levels) isnāt going to push a food one way or the other. H&S pastas are high in protein, high fibre and relatively low in sugar all while containing all 26 essential vitamins and minerals.
We will certainly consider this, and if possible, will look to lower the salt content.
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I eat them sparingly. More like 1-3 a week
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Thanks Phil. I would respect the view that H&S is intended for occasional use if Huel would widely promote this. Yet I have consumed H&S for years, read the FAQs, was still unaware - and I have found the opposite of what you say to be true in the case of Spaghetti Carbonara:
Serving size: 99g x 5 meals per day = 113% RI salt
However this may have been in error, as it is the only flavour recommending this serving quantity.
I value this discussion for raising awareness and I thank Dan for his understanding and consideration.
I also find that I need to drink a lot of water when eating my daily H&S portion, but I donāt mind that because it encourages me to drink more water when I might forget to do so.
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I am trying to lose weight, counting calories. Iāve been having one h&s per day and one Huel liquid most days.
I was unaware itās suggested as occasional.
I actually this is a something of a case of Huel ācovering their assesā from a legal pint of view and is in some conflict with a lot of the other messaging.
I also (like many middle aged people) have high blood pressure and some artery issues.
This is caused partially by the amount of salt in
Food in our society
Eating a sensible amount of salt is just very difficult. And I wish I could could turn to Huel to aid me in this.
What do you mean per 800 cal meal, I thought each meal was 400 cal
Youāre correct Bobby but Jeff suggested the above, which is what my reply was in relation to.
I only tried the Chickān and Mushroom so far and it had the correct amount of salt for me.
Well, just to share my experience with HUEL as a regular 2 times a day in weekdays consume. I have now 42 years old, and use HUEL to lose some weight. After a year using it Iāve manage to lose 14 kgs. (Along with regular exercises and self control on weekends and social interactions) and all the levels that used to be too high or too low became in range. This include high cholesterol and high blood pressureā¦
So, now about the taste, I find all H&S range correct, not salty neither bland, in fact, I add a small pinch of salt to Green Thai Curry and Korma, the pastas are all great by themselves (Tomorrow Iāll try Carbonara, so letās seeā¦).
Please donāt change any recipe, it fits in the recommended ranges and taste wise is perfect. Thatās my opinion folks.
Cheers!
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