Daily Harvest, which sells meal kit subscriptions, is facing lawsuits after 470 people reported severe medical reactions and a dozen customers had their gallbladders removed as a possible consequence of eating "French Lentil + Leek Crumbles."
Investors in the company include Serena Williams and Gwyneth Paltrow.
From Observer:
Daily Harvest sent out 28,000 units of their lentil crumbles between April and June, and there have since been 470 reported cases of severe medical reactions to the product. Now, nearly 100 of Marler's clients are planning to sue the company.
According to the first of the suits, filed on June 27, Oklahoma resident Carol Ann Ready ate the lentil crumbles on two separate occasions in May. Both times Ready was hospitalized, suffering from abdominal and gastrointestinal pain. She was diagnosed with liver and gallbladder dysfunction and underwent surgery in June to remove her gallbladder.
The French Lentil + Leek Crumbles were "contaminated by a substance injurious to human health," according to the lawsuit, which claims that Daily Harvest breached its duty to sell food "that was fit for human consumption, that was reasonably safe in construction, and that was free of pathogenic bacteria."
On June 27, Daily Harvest founder and CEO Rachel Drori issued a statement, which said:
We have spent the past ten days working with the FDA, state agencies and multiple independent labs, as well as experts in microbiology, food safety and toxicology to conduct testing. These tests cover common food-borne pathogens, toxins, and allergens. Results thus far have all come back negative. 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.
