Eve Peyser of Gizmodo reports that a month ago, Soylent released Food Bars, a product that allegedly “offers the same complete nutrition [as Soylent 2.0] but in a lighter, more portable form factor”. (According to scientists, Soylent 2.0 does not offer complete nutrition.) Based on the Soylent subreddit and the company’s own message boards, these bars have also been making its customers very sick.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 06: Jack Fitzpatrick vomits after a hard run during a Melbourne Demons AFL training session at Gosch’s Paddock on November 6, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

One thread on the (by the way, truly excellent) Soylent subreddit begins: I think that the hypochondria on this subreddit can be a little irritating sometimes (“Is Soylent causing my left third toenail to turn yellow??”) however there seems to be some growing anecdotal evidence that food poisoning-like symptoms may be linked to Bar consumption…

Early in September, I experienced intense vomiting about 3-4 hours after eating a Food Bar. The vomiting lasted several hours. I think it was probably the worst vomiting episode I ever experienced. I did not experience diarrhoea.

Another Reddit thread on Food Bars reports that they made a Redditor either “so nauseous [they] have to puke, followed by horrible diarrhoea -option 2 [they] don’t get nauseous but still have uncontrollable diarrhoea.” There’s a third thread too.

Soylent has never faced any health code violations publicly, but last year, the company got in some trouble for reportedly violating the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act in California, which “requires companies to provide consumers with warnings on products that contain detectable amounts of harmful chemicals”. A non-profit called As You Sow filed legal action against Soylent due to the lead levels in their Soylent 1.5 powder, which were “12 to 25 times above California’s Safe Harbor level”. Of course, this was regarding a different product, but it’s still part of Soylent’s spotty history regarding product safety. At the very least, it raises interesting questions about how the FDA monitors Soylent, which might hope to be a tech company instead of a food company.

It’s unclear what standards Soylent bars have to adhere to, but they do come with the following warning label: “Children, women who are pregnant, nursing, or may become pregnant should consult their doctor before consuming Soylent Bar.”

We reached out to Soylent for comment but had not received a response at time of writing.