The so-called “meal drink” brand Soylent, which was to sound bring the “end of food” as we knew it, according to the magazine “The New Yorker”, can not be imported into Canada because it does not meet federal product categorization standards.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) warned earlier this month that these beverages and powders could no longer be considered “meal replacements”, and that their importation into Canada should cease.
However, the CFIA does not order the recall of Soylent products that consumers would already have, as these drinks do not pose any health risks in themselves: they are simply not recognized as meal replacements by the agency. Canada.
In a statement posted on Soylent’s website, President Rob Rhinehart wants to comply as soon as possible with CFIA standards, even though the company “strongly believes that these standards no longer reflect current understanding ‘we have nutritional needs of the human being’. Rhinehart does not know how long it will take his company to comply with the standards of the Canadian agency.
The Soylent brand, which offers meal replacement beverages and powder, was launched in 2013 while Rhinehart was working in the buzzing Silicon Valley, California. Designers assume that in a busy world of work, busy people should not waste precious time preparing meals at home that would, in any case, sometimes be more expensive and less nutritious than substitutes. “Why waste time feeding when there is so much to do?”, We argue roughly.
The product – which contains the right proportions of protein, carbohydrate and fat for a meal – is sold more as a “lifestyle” than as a simple drink. In 2013, the company launched a crowdfunding campaign that raised over US $ 700,000, and the Soylent brand then grew rapidly. The product has been available in Canada since 2015 via electronic orders, but not on store shelves.
In October 2016, the parent company, Rosa Foods, had to recall “food bars” containing a first version of the Soylent powder, because some consumers had complained of gastrointestinal disorders. This food bar has not reappeared on the market since.
