Daily Harvest Reveals Tara Flour Is Ingredient That Likely Caused Customer Illnesses
Daily Harvest
Nearly one month after a voluntary recall on the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles dish, Daily Harvest revealed the ingredient that likely caused nearly 500 consumers to fall ill.
On Tuesday, the food delivery service announced the ingredient is tara flour. The company described the flour as a "plant-based source of protein," derived from the seeds of tara trees.
These findings are the result of an investigation spearheaded by Daily Harvest with support from the FDA and CDC, according to a statement from their website.
In the announcement, Daily Harvest founder and CEO Rachel Drori wrote about the newest development in the brand's voluntary recall.
"We have been working closely with the FDA, the CDC as well as top doctors, microbiologists, toxicologists and three independent labs to find the answer," Drori began. "We considered all possibilities, including processing issues or infection, and have ruled all of them out: Hepatitis A, Norovirus, a range of mycotoxins, including aflatoxins, food-borne pathogens including Listeria, E.Coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus Aureus (Staph), B.Cereus and Clostridium Species and major allergens including egg, soy, milk and gluten."
She also confirmed that there were not any "pesticides or the presence of heavy metal levels that would have caused" the sicknesses.
"At this time, we have identified tara flour as the cause of the issue," she wrote.
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The founder explained that this is an ingredient that is only used in the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles and that no other ingredients for any other products are sourced from the tara flour producer, writing, "The data has repeatedly indicated that the issue is isolated to French Lentil + Leek Crumbles … you can safely enjoy the rest of our 140+ items with confidence."
The company will continue to work with the FDA and the undisclosed tara flour producer to figure out what exactly caused customer illnesses.
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Daily Harvest was founded back in 2015, and is a food subscription company that ships frozen and organic pre-made food products. The brand only just introduced the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles dish to its line in April 2022 as a solo meal or as an addition to other dishes or products.
The recall of the product comes about after consumers reported sickness — including nausea, vomiting and liver damage — on social media sites such as Reddit, Twitter and Instagram as a result of eating the dish, per NPR.
Customers who are affected by the recall or have any concerns can contact the Daily Harvest team at crumbles-recall@daily-harvest.com.
