This Is Just the Beginning for Daily Harvest
Plus, why Kylie Cosmetics desperately needs a rebrand, and my thoughts on the recent "Summer House" cast shakeup.
Last week, I wrote a Twitter thread decrying the fact that food-delivery service Daily Harvest hadn’t yet alerted their customers on social media that their new French Lentil + Leek Crumble product was causing hospitalizations, severe illness, and—in some cases—organ removal.
TBH, it came as a shock to me when the tweet blew up. So many people hadn’t heard of it. And as I wrote, therein lies the problem.
If you’re not familiar with Daily Harvest—if that’s even possible, given how ubiquitous their ads are—it’s a mega-popular, influencer-favorite vegan food service backed by high-power celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Serena Williams, Blake Griffin, and more. And it’s not just vegans who enjoy the frozen health foods: Tons of on-the-go busy bees swear by the easy, quick, and nutrient-rich options the service provides. And it makes sense! I’ve even considered trying it out, given the fact that fresh produce seems to last less than two business days in my fridge, which leaves me to resort to Easy Mac or ramen more often than not. (Not great, I know.)
Obviously, I’m glad I never signed up—not just because of the obvious toxins that have been infesting their food, but because the brand has handled this situation extremely poorly. It appears they’ve been actively trying to squash the story and brush it under the rug as victims’ anecdotes have continued to go viral, even as more and more complaints came in.
I first noticed them on the r/DailyHarvest subreddit, where seemingly hundreds of people seemed to be complaining about the same symptoms after eating the French Lentil + Leek Crumble: severe abdominal pain, back pain, fever, itchy skin, dark urine, vomiting, diarrhea, and—once admitted to the ER—troublingly elevated liver levels, and in some cases, subsequent gallbladder removal. According to the FDA, approximately 470 people had, in fact, been affected by the product as of late June, and over a dozen people had to have their gallbladders removed.
It seems they sent a meager, easy-to-miss email to some* customers who ordered the lentils, describing the symptoms as “gastrointestinal discomfort” and insinuating that those who got sick simply didn’t cook them thoroughly enough.
*Some who ordered the lentils claimed they never received an email at all.
Once the story began to blow up on places like TikTok, Reddit, and eventually Twitter, Daily Harvest had no choice but to address the matter on social media. They posted on Instagram that they had “voluntarily” recalled the product.
They then posted a formal letter in conjunction with the FDA.
Finally, they posted a letter from CEO, Rachel Drori.
So far, the company has insisted that none of their other foods have been contaminated, even though they still haven’t identified what’s been causing the severe illnesses. How would they know, then, that nothing else is affected? Especially given the fact that many people have reported similar symptoms after eating other offerings that are patently not “Crumbles,” like the brand’s stalwart flatbread and smoothie products. The brand’s other “Crumbles,” a Walnut + Thyme flavor, shares many of the same ingredients as the recalled French Lentil + Leek ones.
They also admit to having spent 10 days investigating with the FDA, even though they waited until 5 days later—by their own timeline—to alert their customers on social media.
Throughout the ordeal, Daily Harvest has demonstrated a blatant lack of care for the health of their customers, which is indeed ironic given the fact that it’s a… literal health company. All of this demonstrates that they aren’t doing everything they can to protect the wellbeing of their (very loyal) customers—and are still trying to shill their other products, despite the fact that illnesses have been reported from the other products and they still haven’t identified a cause for the lentils, or have ruled out the possibility of contamination.
And that’s exactly why so many personal injury law firms are licking their chops at this case. Food contaminations happen, but where things get sticky is when a company is knowingly putting their customers in harm’s way. The way Daily Harvest has suppressed information, failed to properly alert their customers, and encouraged people to continue to buy their food—without first identifying the source of the POISON (!!!)—surely makes them liable in a court of law. I’m no lawyer, obvi, but… that’s my two cents.
In any case, this is just the beginning. Lawsuits are already pouring in. If you’re someone whose health has been affected by the product, there are plenty of personal injury lawyers who are taking cases—feel free to shoot me a DM on Twitter for some contact info of good people who want to help.
My heart sincerely goes out to everyone affected by this.
If you’re interested in learning more about food contaminations/recalls and lawsuits and prison terms that followed, here are a few episodes of one of my favorite podcasts, “Swindled,” that you might enjoy:
The Outbreak (Peanut Corporation of America)
The Formula (Nestlé Boycott of 1977)
The Well (Walkerton E. coli Outbreak)
Kylie Cosmetics Desperately Needs a Rebrand
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