In a statement to CR, the Food and Drug Administration said it could not confirm or deny whether it is working with Daily Harvest on the recall. But a spokesperson said: “The FDA takes seriously reports of possible adulteration of a food that may also cause illnesses or injury. Depending on the seriousness of the problem, an FDA investigator may visit the person who made the complaint, collect product samples, and initiate inspections.”
Daily Harvest said in a release that it has reached out to everyone who purchased the French Lentil and Leek Crumbles with instructions to not consume the product.
The company took the action, in part, after social media influencers and others on iwaspoisoned.com, Reddit, TikTok, and other sites posted accounts of how they become ill.
Abby Silverman, a fashion influencer, said in a video posted two days ago that she had received a promotional sample of French Lentil and Leek Crumbles a month ago. She says that since then, she became extremely ill, went to a hospital twice, and was hospitalized once overnight with elevated liver enzymes, among other symptoms.
Others posting on Reddit describe family members who were sickened and hospitalized after eating the recalled product.
“As awful as the symptoms we’ve heard about can be, and the fact that it can be inconvenient and expensive to go to the hospital, as of right now, we still can’t say for certain the Daily Harvest product is causing the health problems,” says James E. Rogers, PhD, director of food testing and research at CR. Still, he says, based on the company’s warning, no one should eat it.
CR contacted Daily Harvest to ask how many consumer complaints it had received and whether the company is working with any federal agency to determine if there is a link between its product and the reported consumer health issues. Daily Harvest responded by sending CR the release it posted on its website, which says the company has “launched an investigation with internal and external experts throughout our supply chain and in accordance with regulatory procedures.”
Consumers with questions can contact the company at hello@daily-harvest.com. It is offering compensation to people who purchased the product. But if you experience an illness you think could be related to something you ate, it’s always a good idea to report it not just to the company but also to your state health department or to the federal government through its form on foodsafety.gov, Rogers says.
You can also speak directly to your state’s FDA consumer complaint coordinator by calling the phone number listed for your state.
“The best way to get the FDA or any federal agency to respond to foodborne illness is by reporting it officially through their system,” Rogers says.
