Soylent 1.4 begins shipping today.

We are proud to announce Soylent 1.4, a new standard in engineered nutrition. Soylent 1.4 is the most significant update we have made to the Soylent formula since launch. Fats are now incorporated directly into the powder, which eliminates the need for a bottled oil blend. An adjusted macronutrient ratio and several new ingredients further optimize digestibility. The number of servings per pouch has been increased in response to customer feedback.

Alongside our formula improvements, we have been making positive progress in our overall business processes. Since our last update, we have aggressively expanded our customer care team and satisfaction metrics have improved dramatically.

Soylent 1.4 would not be here without the enthusiastic support of our customers and the vigorous efforts of the entire Soylent team. A huge thank-you to everyone who has played a part in making Soylent 1.4 our best iteration yet.

Please read on for a detailed summary of the changes made in Soylent 1.4:

Powdered oils: Throughout the development of Soylent, we have been frustrated by the inefficiency and messiness of our bottled oil blend. Today, we are happy to announce that Soylent 1.4 no longer includes separate oil bottles. This update cuts down on wasteful packaging, removes the need to measure out oil when mixing individual servings, and streamlines on-the-go preparation. We accomplished this milestone by utilizing a blend of sunflower, flaxseed, safflower, and algal oils, as well as maltodextrin, a preexisting Soylent ingredient. Maltodextrin is lipophilic, which means it dissolves readily when combined with lipids (fats). When mixed with the oils, particles of maltodextrin quickly surround every molecule of oil. The maltodextrin particles then bond to each other, forming a dry outer shell around the oil molecules. The resulting billions of encapsulated oil particles form a fine, dry powder. These oil powders are blended with Soylent’s other dry ingredients during manufacturing.
Macronutrient ratio: Our research and in-house testing have indicated that a carbohydrate/fat/protein ratio of 43/40/17 improves digestibility while still providing optimum nutrition and improved satiation. This means that out of the total calories in a pouch of Soylent, 43% come from carbohydrates, 40% from fats, and 17% from protein. We have adopted this macronutrient ratio for Soylent 1.4, a shift from the 50/30/20 ratio used in previous versions.
Isomaltulose: When reviewing Soylent 1.4’s nutrition facts panel, customers may notice what appears to be a significant spike in the labelled amount of sugar: from 6 g/pouch to 44 g/pouch. In fact, Soylent 1.4 actually contains less sucrose (table sugar) than previous versions: 2.7 g/pouch. How is this possible? The answer is isomaltulose, a new ingredient and carbohydrate source in Soylent 1.4. Isomaltulose is a derivative of sucrose, but the similarities largely end there. While sucrose is a fast-digesting carbohydrate that causes rapid and unhealthy changes in blood sugar levels, isomaltulose is a far healthier source of carbohydrates and is absorbed into the bloodstream at a much slower rate than sucrose. Because it is chemically similar to sucrose, the FDA requires isomaltulose to be listed as a sugar on nutrition facts labels, rather than a carbohydrate. We feel this could confuse customers, as it skews Soylent’s labelled nutritional profile and falsely causes it to appear unbalanced. Soylent’s formula has always been engineered for balanced nutrition, and version 1.4 is no different.
Other carbohydrate changes: We have reduced our oat flour content from 110 grams to 70 grams per pouch. This reduction allowed us to incorporate several new types of slow-digesting carbohydrates, including one potato starch and two rice starch varieties.
Sodium chloride: Sodium and chloride levels have been increased slightly, to 1,640 mg and 2,300 mg, respectively. In the past, Soylent has not fully met the Institute of Medicine’s recommended sodium intake levels, due to the challenges of providing recommended daily sodium values without creating an unpleasantly salty flavor. Thanks to the addition of isomaltulose, Soylent 1.4 can now meet the IOM’s recommended levels for sodium and chloride while maintaining a balanced flavor profile.
Artificial flavors: Prior to 1.4, Artificial Flavors were listed as an ingredient in Soylent. The artificial flavors were a blend of chemicals that, when combined, added a hint of vanilla flavor to Soylent. Due to U.S. food regulations, the exact makeup of the artificial flavors used in Soylent versions 1.0 - 1.3 were proprietary and not made available for our examination. This made it impossible for us to provide customers a truly exhaustive list of Soylent’s ingredients, an uncomfortable shortcoming that did not match our values of transparency and open information. We were happy to discover that various Soylent 1.4 formula changes resulted in a flavor profile that met our neutrality standards without any artificial flavors. We have removed artificial flavors from the Soylent 1.4 formula entirely.
Fiber: Total fiber content (both soluble and insoluble) has been reduced by approximately 40 percent, dropping from 30 grams of fiber per pouch to 18 grams of fiber per pouch. Our tests have suggested a strong correlation between reduced levels of fiber and improved digestion. These reductions come from the removal of gum acacia and the decreased quantity of oat flour. There is still ample fiber in Soylent 1.4, and we are happy to have found a balance between essential fiber content and digestibility.
Serving size: Our customer surveys have indicated that most people consume smaller servings of Soylent than the recommended serving size listed on the nutritional facts panel. To better match these reported consumption patterns, the number of servings in a pouch of Soylent 1.4 has been increased from three 670-calorie servings to four 500-calorie servings. Serving size has dropped from 144g (excluding oil blend) to 115g.
Kosher status: As our number of Soylent production facilities increases and our ingredient supply diversifies, we have confronted unexpected challenges in maintaining Soylent’s kosher certification without facing significant delays in production. For this reason, we have temporarily suspended Soylent’s kosher certification, starting with version 1.4. We will reapply for kosher certification once our expansion has stabilized.
Operational updates: Soylent 1.4 production will take place at two new manufacturing facilities, for a total of three. Together, they will have the capacity to produce Soylent at more than 50 times our previous output rate. Such a level of production will allow us to fully meet demand for Soylent, an enormous milestone in our company’s growth. Reaching that level of production will be contingent on many factors, and span several months. Regardless, we are excited to report this progress and look forward to a future with shipping times measured in days, rather than weeks or months.

One more thing:

Over the last month, we have aggressively expanded the Soylent customer care team, which has grown to nearly 20 dedicated and motivated individuals. Thanks to their hard work, the average response time for customer care inquiries has dropped from over 1 week to below 12 hours. We understand that our response times have not matched the urgency of your requests in the past, and it is extremely important to us that your customer support experience improves just as quickly as the Soylent formula.

Learn more

Starting today, all shipments (regardless of order date) from our warehouses will be Soylent 1.4, and we look forward to hearing your feedback, so that we can make Soylent 1.5 even better.

For further discussion of this update, please visit the Soylent Discourse.

Finally, if you are interested in additional information regarding our product development process, please check out the following Soylent FAQ pages: