X

Soylent is made of algae, and that might be making people ill

The meal replacement brand sifted through its formula for the cause of nasty gastrointestinal problems, and may have found what's turning tummies.

Jessica Dolcourt Senior Director, Commerce & Content Operations
Jessica Dolcourt is a passionate content strategist and veteran leader of CNET coverage. As Senior Director of Commerce & Content Operations, she leads a number of teams, including Commerce, How-To and Performance Optimization. Her CNET career began in 2006, testing desktop and mobile software for Download.com and CNET, including the first iPhone and Android apps and operating systems. She continued to review, report on and write a wide range of commentary and analysis on all things phones, with an emphasis on iPhone and Samsung. Jessica was one of the first people in the world to test, review and report on foldable phones and 5G wireless speeds. Jessica began leading CNET's How-To section for tips and FAQs in 2019, guiding coverage of topics ranging from personal finance to phones and home. She holds an MA with Distinction from the University of Warwick (UK).
Expertise Content strategy, team leadership, audience engagement, iPhone, Samsung, Android, iOS, tips and FAQs.
See full bio
Jessica Dolcourt

Something in Soylent isn't sitting right with some.

 Soylent

If a meal replacement powder like Soylent makes you sick to your stomach, algae flour might be the culprit.

After some Soylent customers complained of tummy trouble in a nutritional powder and bar, the company pulled both and vowed to figure out what went wrong. The issue may come down to a certain kind of ground-up algae that found its way into both products, Bloomberg reported.

Soylent did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier formulas that didn't include the algae ingredient didn't seem to make people sick -- only one version called Powder 1.6, which tested negative for toxins, food pathogens and "outside contamination". Soylent said it would release new formulas of both its powder and meal-replacement bar in early 2017, according to Bloomberg.

The incident is a huge blow for the food-meets-tech startup, which collected $20 million in Silicon Valley funding in 2015.