Daily Harvest Identifies Tara Flour As Illness-Causing Ingredient

One month after initiating a recall, Daily Harvest announced it has identified tara flour as the ingredient that caused reported cases of gastrointestinal illness and liver dysfunction in nearly 200 consumers who ate its French Lentil + Leek alt-meat crumble product.

According to the direct-to-consumer plant-based meal company, tara flour was used for the first and only time exclusively in the newly launched French Lentil + Leek SKU. Daily Harvest is no longer sourcing the ingredient from the provider and acknowledged that it does not source any other ingredients from that supplier. Additionally, the company reiterated that the issue is isolated to the single product.

“The testing process and investigation also validated the safety of our supply chain and manufacturing processes,” said founder and CEO Rachel Drori, in a statement. “We are confident that we continue to uphold the highest standards for quality and safety. You can safely enjoy the rest of our 140+ items with confidence.”

However, the brand has still not identified why the ingredient caused these issues, which ranged from mild stomach aches and nausea to emergency room visits that warranted gallbladder removal for multiple consumers.

Earlier this month, Drori said that the brand was working with the FDA, CDC and “top doctors, microbiologists, toxicologists and three independent labs to find the answer.” In yesterday’s announcement, she noted that Daily Harvest will continue to work with its former tara flour producer and the FDA to determine what caused the issue.

“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. Testing also confirmed there are no pesticides or the presence of heavy metal levels that would have caused the reported adverse effects.”

On Reddit, some users have pointed out that the ingredient has also been used in products from Canada-based D2C smoothie brand Revive Superfoods and has caused nearly identical illnesses. The company recalled seven of its products earlier this month due to “possible norovirus contamination” of raspberries used in the affected SKUs and currently, none of the products listed on its site list tara as an ingredient.

Revive co-founder and CEO Yousuf Soliman said in a statement today that it has been made aware of Daily Harvest’s issues related to tara flour and said it pulled products that use the ingredient and have been linked to illnesses, specifically the Mango and Pineapple smoothie, from its website.

Tara four has been available and used as a plant-based protein source in North America prior to its new product launch, Daily Harvest said in a statement. The ingredient is grown in the Andean Mountain region in Peru and is known for its low carb and high protein attributes. Daily Harvest has not yet publicly disclosed the name of its supplier.

“Our ingredients, processes and suppliers may differ from Daily Harvest but we are taking no chances,” Soliman said in the statement. “We have reached out to Daily Harvest and the FDA for further clarity on what specifically is causing tara protein to be an issue even though results are negative.”

Daily Harvest is currently facing consumer lawsuits from at least two consumers who underwent surgery due to the issues caused by the product. According to the FDA, approximately 28,000 units of the crumbles were distributed prior to the recall.

“I appreciate the trust you put in Daily Harvest every time you feed your family,” Drori said in a statement. “What you put on your table is what we put on ours, and your health and safety are our top priority. I want to personally apologize to anyone who has been impacted as well as reaffirm my commitment to making sure this experience provides lessons we can implement. We’re also working with those who experienced adverse reactions to help them.”