Consumers file lawsuits blaming recalled Daily Harvest food for gall bladder removals
Lawsuits have been filed from the East Coast to the West Coast as the FDA, CDC and local agencies have started investigating the liver problems and gastrointestinal illnesses many Daily Harvest customers are blaming on frozen French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.
Thursday afternoon, the FDA estimated, based on consumer complaints and Consumer Adverse Event Reports received, it knows of 133 illnesses of which 42 required hospitalization.
These illnesses have been in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
However, after Daily Harvest issued a recall on June 23, the food delivery service admitted receiving 470 reports of illnesses.
READ MORE: 470 people reported illnesses, including liver problems, from recalled Daily Harvest food
Two attorneys in lawsuits filed against Daily Harvest each say they have spoken with more than 100 people who became sick after eating the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.
Malfunctioning gall bladders and livers
In New York, where Daily Harvest is based, the law firm of Heisman Nunes & Hull and the food safety firm Marler Clark filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Tulsa, Oklahoma woman who had her gall bladder removed last Friday, June 24.
The lawsuit says the woman began having stomachaches and “gastrointestinal illness” the day she ate the crumbles, May 7. After intense pain she estimated at “eight or nine or 10 out of 10” to go with the aforementioned problems on May 9, she went to an emergency room. She was sent home with orders to eat a bland diet. But she was back at a hospital May 30, the lawsuit claims, and testing found “liver and gall bladder dysfunction.”
Attorney Bill Marler said another Marler Clark client, a mother nursing her 4-month-old baby, claimed her liver, gall bladder, neurological system and blood platelet count were affected. She said she was considered for the Intensive Care Unit on the third day of an eight-day hospitalization. Instead, he said, she was moved to a tertiary care center (a specialized hospital) for acute liver failure. She dealt with 103-degree fever, vomiting, severe stomach and rib pain.
Marler said of the 127 people his Seattle-based law firm represents, 20 have had their gall bladder removed. He said the vast majority were healthy women between the ages of 25 and 45 who ate the crumbles in question.
The Internet and the damage done
In Multnomah County, Oregon, attorney Jeff Bowersox filed a civil suit on behalf of Luke Wesley Pearson, a resident who told his Instagram followers (now at 80,700) that he ate the crumbles May 29 and June 6 and eventually required gall bladder surgery.
The lawsuit says “Daily Harvest specifically sought out [Pearson] and provided Lentil Crumbles to [Pearson] for the purpose of encouraging [Pearson] to consume the Lentil Crumbles and to influence his followers by posting about the taste, quality and desirability of Lentil Crumbles.”
Pearson’s lawsuit also reiterates the social media criticism of how Daily Harvest handled the possibility of problems with the crumbles.
READ MORE: Daily Harvest French Lentil + Leek Crumble recall reaction
“Instead of immediately and urgently warning purchasers and consumers of its product of the potential danger to their physical and emotional health that would occur from eating the contaminated Lentil Crumbles,” the Pearson lawsuit says, “Daily Harvest instead went into a “product reputation protection mode” and minimized the concerns of injured consumers who notified the company of their illnesses after eating the Lentil Crumbles.”
As for what Daily Harvest has found in their internal investigation, their spokesperson referred a Miami Herald reporter to Monday’s website update from CEO Rachel Driori.
“At this point, despite consulting with numerous experts, cooperating with FDA’s investigation, working with our supply chain, and conducting extensive testing, we have not yet identified a cause,” Driori said.
Driori said all testing has come back negative for salmonella, listeria, E. coli, Staphylococcus Aureus (Staph), B. Cereus, and Clostridium Species as well as major allergens and toxins, including mycotoxins and aflatoxins.
