Daily Harvest CEO Speaks Out for the First Time About Lentil Dish That Caused Customer Illnesses

This comes over a year after the product sent over a hundred people to the hospital

More than a year after customers reported getting sick from a Daily Harvest product, the company’s CEO Rachel Drori is speaking out.

In April 2022, vegan food subscription service Daily Harvest began shipping out their French Lentil and Leek Crumbles dish. Suddenly, 133 people were in the hospital after eating the meal, and a total of 393 people reported adverse reactions to the Food and Drug Administration.

“We started this business with the very distinct mission to help people,” Drori told Fast Company in her first interview since the crisis. “When you find out somebody gets sick [from your food], it’s a lot to take in.”

Seven weeks after the complaints began, Daily Harvest issued a recall on the product that caused side effects including nausea, vomiting, and liver damage due to the ingredient tara flour, according to NPR.

In a notice obtained by PEOPLE at the time, Drori said the company is "taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to get to the bottom of this. Your health and well-being are our top priority."

Brian Ronholm, head of food policy at Consumer Reports, told Fast Company that he is “not aware of any instances of a novel ingredient sickening” in this case.

Related: Daily Harvest Recalls Lentil Dish After Consumers Report Getting Sick on Social Media

Drori further explained she had no idea that tara flour might be unsafe to consume, saying the company checked to make sure it had research on its health impacts.

“It definitely didn’t appear as a novel ingredient when we decided to use it,” Drori said. “There were multiple established reputable suppliers in the U.S. that had it in their catalog. In hindsight, we learned that while it was offered by many [suppliers], it’s unclear how much it had actually been used.”

Because Daily Harvest is a vegan company — meaning there are no animal products used in their food — Drori said they often searched for unique ingredients to replace that.

“We were looking for a source of protein with a very specific criteria,” Drori explained. “We didn’t want it to be hyper-processed or based on nuts, soy, or wheat. We were introduced to tara by a few suppliers [to meet] our specific needs.”

She added that she wanted to create a protein-packed product that branched out from the typical smoothies, soups and bowls they had been selling before. The Lentil and Leek Crumbles seemed to be a perfect ground meat alternative.

“We wanted to create something for the center of the plate,” she said, referring to a vegan food heavy in protein.

The Lentil and Leek Crumble utilized the tara flour because a nut-based protein didn’t seem sensible due to the prevalence of nut allergies among customers. This was when Daily Harvest worked with Smirk’s, a supplier of organic, non-GMO ingredients, to find an alternative.

Drori revealed that Smirk’s recommended tara flour, which comes from a legume. She said she believes “the more variety, the more nutrients” when it comes to exploring plant-based protein options.

“Biodiversity counts,” Drori said.

Since the uproar over the product’s side effects, Drori confirmed the company has changed the way they source and research their ingredients.

Related: Possible Hepatitis A Contamination Prompts Recall of Frozen Fruit Sold at Walmart, Costco and HEB

“We’ve augmented our sourcing strategy based on this experience,” she revealed. “We’re not going to use an ingredient if it has not been widely and safely used in the United States.”

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Daily Harvest was founded in 2015 and is a food subscription company that ships frozen and organic pre-made food products. The brand introduced the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles dish to its line in April 2022.

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