A vegan food delivery company backed by Serena Williams and Gwyneth Paltrow has recalled a new lentil product after customers developed possible liver damage.
According to a statement from Daily Harvest, the company has received reports of French Lentil + Leek Crumbles causing GI issues — a euphemism that many unfortunate customers say masks the massive pain caused by their mediocre snack.
The company said it had taken “immediate steps” to address its customers’ concerns and had reached out to everyone who bought France’s Lentil + Crumbles. Daily Harvest asked these customers to dispose of the product immediately.
But many say they were hospitalized with liver problems and gallbladder damage from eating a fashionably packed snack.
“If you have any lentils + French shallots, please discard them and do not eat them,” the statement continues.
An email sent to at least one customer offered a $10 credit per bag of the product they purchased NBC News. The email advised the customer to dispose of the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles out of great caution.
‘If you have any French lentils + leek crample, please discard them and do not eat them,’ The Daily Harvest said in a statement.
Rachel Drury, founder of Daily Harvest, has a net worth of $350 million
Notable Daily Harvest investors include Gwyneth Paltrow, healthy living expert and founder of Goop
Luke Tashi of Boston, pictured, has horrific liver pain and gallbladder damage as a result of his encounter with a can of Daily Harvest lentils crumbling
On June 18, TikTok influencer Abby Silverman posted a video describing how she received a freebie package from Daily Harvest in May.
After eating the lentils, Silverman said she started having “severe stomach and GI pains and went to the hospital, ER, in the middle of the night.”
Silverman, who has more than 100,000 followers on TikTok, said doctors can diagnose her problems. She had a high level of liver enzyme and bacteria in her urine, and staff thought she might have a urinary tract infection.
When Silverman was released, she took antibiotics for five days. After the fifth, the pain returned and she went back to the emergency room.
She says the staff did all the possible tests but they still couldn’t diagnose the problem.
Silverman says she has an appointment to see a liver specialist this week because her enzyme levels are still high.
At the time of the video, Silverman said she received an email from Daily Harvest warning of the potential health risks with her product.
Then I Googled the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles to discover that dozens of other people had exactly the same symptoms.
At one point in the video, Silverman accused The Daily Harvest of deleting comments from social media in order to keep the scandal quiet.
Silverman speculates that because she gets a promotional package from the company, she eats lentils before making them available to the public and that’s why she got sick first.
She continues, “I’ve never had a health problem before until I literally ate this, that’s the only thinking different from my routine.”
Silverman warns her followers to discard the product if they are in their possession and contact Daily Harvest.
‘I’m not the type to put any brand on a blast,’ she concluded, ‘but this is really serious. People with serious health problems.
A Boston man, Luke Tachey, in a photo with his wife, Laura, said he experienced ‘severe liver pain’ after eating lentils.
Another customer, Luke Tashie, told NBC that he experienced “extreme liver pain” after eating lentils.
Tashi, from Boston, went on to say he didn’t think Daily Harvest was taking the problem seriously. He was taken to the hospital due to his severe pain.
“The surgeons who consulted with me were so baffled that they seriously considered removing the gallbladder,” Tashi said in a Reddit post.
His wife, Laura Tachi, wrote in a Facebook post that her husband was “in and out of hospital” and that the Food and Drug Administration was coming to their home to check the product.
Laura Tashi said they first heard from Daily Harvest on June 17 when her husband was already being treated at the hospital. It was reported in an email that lentils can cause “discomfort” in the digestive system.
“Luke should have had a liver biopsy and he may have long-term damage that may be caused by this product,” she added.
The post concluded: “Be wary of Daily Harvest for the time being!”
People started posting about lentils on Reddit on June 15th.
Earlier in June 2022, Forbes Magazine He ran a feature on Rachel Drury, founder of Daily Harvest.
Drury, 39, founded the company in 2015 in Queens, New York.
Drury has a net worth of $350 million, with her company reporting $250 million in revenue in 2020, the magazine said.
“Discovering Daily Harvest was a game changer for me,” investor and NBA star Blake Griffin said in May.
Tennis star Serena Williams is another icon who has invested in Daily Harvest
NBA star Carmelo Anthony is among the investors in the company
Celebrity chef Bobby Flay also supports Daily Harvest
The company is valued at about $1.1 billion. Popular investors in the company include tennis star Serena Williams, NBA stars Carmelo Anthony and Blake Griffin, Academy Award winner Gwyneth Paltrow and celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
In May 2022, Griffin and Anthony teamed up with Daily Harvest to launch a program called Eat the Solution to encourage people to eat organic fruits and vegetables every day.
“Throughout my career, I’ve continued to develop how best to take care of my body and discovering that Daily Harvest has been a game changer for me,” Griffin said at the time.
He continued, “With this investment, I look forward to working closely with Rachel and the Daily Harvest team to help educate the next generation about the impact of eating more organic fruits and vegetables every day on our bodies and planet.”
Drury told Forbes: “I created Daily Harvest to reimagine how food can nourish humanity and the planet. We make it easy to eat more sustainably sourced fruits and vegetables and the more we grow, the more we can do. We are laying the foundation for a better future.
Drury went on to say that Daily Harvest sources its food from about 400 farmers across the country. Their crops are frozen 24 hours after being harvested.
The Introduction to Daily Harvest welcomes users with: “Never out of season. Chef-made food based on sustainably sourced fruits and vegetables delivered straight to you.
French Lentil + Leek is described on the website as tasting like a “herb lentil burger”. Three servings of the product cost $9.79. Below pricing reads: “This item has been paused.”
Customer reviews of the product are mixed, with the latest complimenting it as “very good actually and easy to make.” Another says “Not great. Not the best texture.”
The company’s crumbs come in another flavor, walnut + thyme.
The Daily Harvest says that internal and external investigations have been carried out to find out the source of the problem.
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