Daily Harvest Recalled a Product After Customers Reported Gastrointestinal Issues
Daily Harvest
Daily Harvest, a popular meal delivery service known for its plant-based frozen meals and smoothies, has finally identified the ingredient responsible for causing some of its customers to become sick after eating its French Lentil and Leek Crumbles. Tara flour, an ingredient made from tara tree seeds that has been marketed as a plant-based source of protein, seems to be responsible for the health concerns people experienced, according to an update on the company's website.
ICYMI, Daily Harvest issued a voluntary recall of its French Lentil and Leek Crumbles (a new product that launched in late April of this year) on June 17. The recall came after multiple reports of people becoming sick after eating the ground meat alternative surfaced on social media. The product in question is now listed as "temporarily discontinued" on Daily Harvest's website.
The direct-to-consumer food company "received customer reports of French Lentil and Leek Crumbles causing gastrointestinal issues," according to a statement released on June 19. People spoke out on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and Reddit about getting sick, specifically complaining of stomach pain, after eating the product. (Related: Exactly Why You Get a Stomach Ache After a Workout)
One person claimed they had their gallbladder removed after eating the crumbles in a video shared on Twitter. TikTok influencer Abby Silverman said she went to the emergency room twice after eating the product and has had to see a liver specialist, according to clips posted on TikTok. Another person on Reddit described having "horrible stomach pain" after eating the crumbles, noting that they also had to go to the emergency room for their symptoms.
Daily Harvest has reached out to all customers who received the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles, informing them that they should dispose of the product and not eat it, according to the June 19 statement. The company encouraged anyone who experienced health issues after eating the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles to contact its team directly at crumbles-recall@daily-harvest.com and offered refunds for those who purchased the product.
Daily Harvest began working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and "multiple independent labs" to get to the bottom of the issue, according to an update shared on June 22. As of July 14, the FDA received 277 product complaint reports about Daily Harvest's French Lentil and Leek Crumbles. Now, Daily Harvest has figured out the ingredient to blame for the illnesses.
"At this time, we have identified tara flour as the cause of the issue. Our extensive investigation has involved many experts analyzing data from all sources," wrote founder and CEO Rachel Drori in the most recent statement. "We have only used this ingredient in French Lentil and Leek Crumbles and we are no longer sourcing from this producer who does not provide any ingredients for our 140+ other items," she added. Daily Harvest's investigation team is continuing to work with the FDA "to help determine what specifically made people sick," according to the statement.
While the company searches for more answers, if you have any packages of this product in your freezer, be sure to throw it out.
