An online vegan food company says it has discovered the ingredient in one of its products that has been making consumers severely ill.
Daily Harvest, a vegan meal-kit service, had been plagued by online reports of consumers being stricken after eating its French lentil & leek crumbles. Symptoms included severe gastrointestinal distress and highly elevated level of liver enzymes. Several consumers needed to have their gallbladders removed as a result, according to lawsuits filed against Daily Harvest.
The company announced July 19 that it had identified the culprit in the French lentil & leek crumbles: Tara flour, made from the seeds of tara trees. The supplier, whom the company did not name, has not supplied any other ingredients for any of Daily Harvest’s other products.
"This was the first and only time we've used tara flour, which has been available and used in the North American market as a plant-based source of protein prior to our use," the company founder said in a blog post on its webpage.
Daily Harvest launched in 2016, heavily dependent on social media influencers for its marketing. It was influencers who started bringing the problems with the French lentil & leek crumbles to the public’s attention.
