Daily Harvest, a healthy meal delivery service, is facing lawsuits across the country after hundreds of customers have fallen ill, some of them with severe gastrointestinal illnesses, including liver damage and one alleged report of a man needing to have his gallbladder removed after consuming the company’s French Lentil + Leek Crumbles, the Miami Herald reported.
The company voluntarily issued a recall of the French Lentil + Leek Crumble dish on June 23. Since then, the company has admitted to receiving approximately 470 reports of illnesses. According to the recall notice on the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) website, approximately 28,000 units of the Crumbles were distributed to consumers from April 28 to June 17, 2022. Consumers received the product via online sales, direct delivery, and retail sales at the company’s store in Chicago and a “pop-up” store in Los Angeles. Samples were also provided to a small number of consumers.
Reports of gastrointestinal illness were first reported by Daily Harvest on June 19, after several consumers posted complaints on social media, including one from an Instagram user who claims he needed to have emergency gallbladder removal.
Based on the FDA’s Consumer Adverse Event Report, which was last updated June 30, 133 adverse illness events have been reported, with 42 requiring hospitalization.
A federal lawsuit has been filed on behalf of an Oklahoma woman who needed to have her gallbladder removed on June 24 after eating the frozen French Lentil & Leek Crumbles. The woman claims to have experienced severe stomach pain on the same day she consumed the product in May.
Another woman who has filed a lawsuit against Daily Harvest claims to have suffered neurological, liver, and gallbladder problems. Her blood platelet count was also negatively impacted by the allegedly contaminated food, and she experienced vomiting, a 103-degree fever, and severe gastrointestinal and rib pain.
One Seattle law firm is representing over 120 plaintiffs, 20 of whom have needed to get their gallbladder removed, allegedly because of the Crumbles.
Daily Harvest says it is still investigating the illnesses, stating that tests have come back negative for foodborne pathogens such as salmonella, listeria, E. coli, and Staphylococcus Aureus. The company claims testing for food allergens and toxins has yielded negative results.