Dive Brief:
- Within weeks of recalling its meal replacement bars, Soylent conducted tests that it said confirms consumers complaining of illnesses after eating the bars were not suffering from food poisoning caused by food pathogens, toxins or other contamination,Quartz reported.
- Soylent concluded that consumers were dealing with food intolerances, potentially from eating too much of the company's products in a short period.
- The company committed to removing the ingredients that could be causing the food intolerance, but did not identify the ingredients. The company plans to reintroduce the reformulated bars by Q1 2017, and pledged to share results of testing and reformulations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Dive Insight:
The question for Soylent is how best to save face following this somewhat unique recall. Food intolerances aren't unheard of, but they often don't necessitate a full recall of a particular product. After Soylent's ingredients seemed to be causing illnesses for select consumers, theytook to social media and online forumsinstead of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration—the typical route for reporting food safety concerns.
In similar cases, it is best to be transparent and share with consumers— and other manufacturers — which are the suspected problematic ingredients. Experts told Food Dive earlier this yearhow beneficial a brand's attempts at full transparency can be当谈到反弹potentially costly recalls. Soylent can then continue to be transparent about its product reformulations and why it chose its replacement ingredients, which will keep consumers more informed about the end product when it returns to shelves early next year.
Sharing results of testing and reformulations with the FDA could be another key way that Soylent emerges from this situation in a better position. Soylent may uncover insights aboutfood intolerancesthat other manufacturers and food safety regulators can apply to their own operations and inspections. Those insights could potentially reduce similar recalls related to food intolerances of particular ingredients in the future, if Soylent discloses which ingredients are problematic.
