As someone else in biotech, I agree with your sentiment. I would advise the guys behind this to go back to making social networking and photo sharing apps and leave biotech to those who know what they're doing. You can't just say "oops" and apologize when you put someone in the hospital, or worse. It's not like if someone hacks your Instagram account.

You are EVERYthing that is wrong with startups. I would advise you to quit criticising the audacity of a team that is trying to change the world for the better. How many startups can legitimately say that?!

In your boundless zeal for "innovation," you have completely failed to comprehend what I was saying. Putting someone in the hospital is no laughing matter. You can't just "iterate" and "learn from your mistakes" in biotech. We're talking about life and death here, not some filtered hipster cat photos.

We're talking about life and death now? That's quite the extreme you've just jumped to. After reading through the ingredients being used in Soylent none of them seem particularly life threatening (Cached version, site seems to be slammed: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:f487PaT...).

I admit they need a warning of some sort on the campaign, and they should probably link to his blog posts about everything that goes into this, but the "life and death" argument is a bit extreme.

> After reading through the ingredients being used in Soylent none of them seem particularly life threatening

It's not what's in this product, it's what this product is purported to replace. I don't see anything inherently harmful in a wooden frame until it's marketed as a drop-in replacement for reinforced steel construction.

This product is being marketed as an alternative to food.

> After reading through the ingredients being used in Soylent none of them seem particularly life threatening

Please, stop commenting on things you clearly do not understand. Human biology and nutrition is a tad more complicated than creating an iPhone fart app. There's a lot more to nutrition than examining a list of ingredients.

Unless you present a specific reason to think that Soylent is unsafe, you're just blowing hot air.

The reason I even bother pointing this out is because you seem like the kind of person who might actually be able to present a specific reason.

Obviously, it's not safe to assume that it can replace all food, period, but I don't see/haven't heard any specific reason to suspect that it would be dangerous to consume it in large portions on a regular basis.

Not get caught up in the hate/arguing, but if they're raising money for this, and will be apparently working within the FDA guidelines, wouldn't they have strenuous testing before they release this to market?

The facility is apparently FDA-approved -- this says nothing about the product itself.

edit: I will probably try it myself as a replacement for some meals, so I hate to simply sound like another voice piling on, but it seems pretty clear to me (whether it was intentional or not) that the "FDA-approved" comment is misleading.

Depends on exactly what they mean by "produced in an FDA-approved facility with strict regulatory controls ensuring safety". To me, that sounds like it could mean as little as "we're going to produce it in a commercial kitchen".

How many startups if they obtained their stated goals on a global scale wouldn't impact the world for the better?

Risk vs reward. Very little risk in tech companies, quite a few in biotech.

I don't have a scientific background but I still manage to do okay choosing my own food at the grocery store. Soylent doesn't have to be the pinnacle of human nutrition, it just has to be better than burritos and ramen and freezer pizza.

> I still manage to do okay choosing my own food at the grocery store

That's because the FDA regulates food. Read The Jungle[0] if you want to know how things were before the FDA existed. These guys need to understand that biotech is nothing like tech and shut this shit down before they kill someone.

There's a good reason why you don't see uneducated teenagers "disrupting" the food and drug industries. This isn't like creating Tumblr.

0: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle

Nice strawman. It's great that there's restrictions preventing dangerous stuff from being put into food. But the issue here is not being able to avoid dangerous substances, but whether or not Soylent is sufficient. You're deflecting the discussion onto something entirely different.

Unless you are claiming that these guys are likely to put dangerous, non-FDA approved substances in their product?

The comment you respond to makes the point that while there's plenty of possibilities for dangerously deficient diets at any grocery store, and lot of people do choose diets - from regular grocery stores - that are extremely limited, most of us do ok.

And that is what Soylent needs to match or beat in order to avoid doing harm. The bar is extremely low considering some of the stuff I've survived on for extensive periods of time, and the type of diets I see others manage on.

That's not to say that they shouldn't aim higher, but there are a lot of people here that seems to be completely oblivious to just how shitty diets a lot of people live on.

That said, I think their marketing claims are well in excess of what they have evidence for, and it saddens me a bit that they feel that hyperbole is necessary. I also hope they put a lot more effort into testing.

> Read The Jungle[0] if you want to know how things were before the FDA existed.

Yeah, because before 1906, people were constantly dying from bad food. There wasn't any safe food to eat. In the whole world. For all of history. Until the FDA came along to save us in 1906.

I mean, it's demonstrably true that people aren't capable of caring for themselves. We need the government for force us to take care of ourselves.

P.S. The Jungle is a piece of left-wing propoganda.

Wow, the depths of ignorance in this post are truly shocking. Even holocaust deniers or creationists have more of a leg to stand on than you do. Grow up a little, read some history, and learn what people used to put in food back when they could. And in some parts of the world, still do... melamine in baby formula is nothing compared to what used to go on.

In light of the parent post, I propose that Godwin's Law be extended to all mentions of the Holocaust. we have maybe 5 years before the last of the survivors die of old age, so I think it's safe that anyone bringing up 70+ spectres are not contributing much to a conversation.

There are viable solutions to food safety that don't involve government men with guns.

I completely agree with your sentiment.

>That's because the FDA regulates food.

Which is precisely the reason your fear-mongering is nonsense. The FDA isn't going to suddenly disappear because these guys are selling the same thing tons of other companies sell: meal replacement shake mix.

The difference is that the burritos, ramen, and freezer pizza don't make claims about being "perfectly balanced and optimized for your body and lifestyle, meaning it automatically puts you at an optimal weight, makes you feel full, and improves your focus and cognition."

> Soylent doesn't have to be the pinnacle of human nutrition, it just has to be better than burritos and ramen and freezer pizza.

People who care to do better than burritos and ramen and freezer pizza already can do better than burritos and ramen and freezer pizza with minimal effort.

So, no, I don't think that the bar Soylent needs to pass to be offering an improvement over current options is quite that low.