By Daniella
Silva
The problems continue to mount for Daily Harvest, a popular vegan food company that delivers its products to homes.
On Monday, an Oklahoma woman, Carol Ann Ready, sued the company, claiming she was hospitalized after eating their “french lentils + shredded leeks” and had to have her gallbladder removed.
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According to Daily Harvest, at least 470 people have suffered illnesses after consuming the crumbs.
Ready's attorney, Bill Marler, announced that he is now representing nearly 100 people with potential claims against the company.
“They are all relatively young and healthy, and they all have basically the same symptoms, the same liver dysfunction and the same pain,” Marler explained.
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But the precise cause of the ailment remains a medical mystery.
"The symptoms of this illness are not typical of traditional food hazards," said Martin Bucknavage, a food safety extension associate at Pennsylvania State University.
"It's different, and it's not something I've ever seen," he said.
On Monday, Rachel Drori, CEO and founder of Daily Harvest, said in a statement that the company has been working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other experts to investigate the matter, but that tests for common foodborne pathogens, toxins and allergens "have all come back negative."
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“Despite consulting with numerous experts, cooperating with the FDA investigation, working with our supply chain, and conducting extensive testing, we have not yet identified the cause,” he noted.
“I recognize that this is very frustrating.
I am incredibly frustrated,” she added.
Drori added in his statement that tests have come back negative for "Listeria, E. Coli, Salmonella, Staphylococcus Aureus (staphylococcus), B. Cereus and Clostridium species."
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court for the Southern District of New York, Ready claims he first ate the crumbs on May 7 and later suffered severe abdominal and gastrointestinal discomfort, as well as pain in his right shoulder.
According to the lawsuit, he went to the hospital, where doctors ordered various tests and scans, and then released him.
Ready claims in the lawsuit that he ate lentils again on May 28, experienced more abdominal and shoulder pain, and returned to the hospital.
According to the lawsuit, she was admitted with elevated liver enzymes and was diagnosed with liver and gallbladder dysfunction.
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Ready alleges that his doctors told him the condition could cause "indefinite pain" and recommended that his "damaged gallbladder" be removed, which they did on Friday.
Vegan
influencer
Luke Wesley Pearson shared a similar story on social media last week, saying he had to have his gallbladder removed after eating the lentil product twice.
"My life has been forever changed by this," he said, adding, "Daily Harvest has to be held accountable."
Pearson posted that he has retained legal counsel, and referred our sister network NBC News to his attorney in response to an interview request.
Dr. Jasmohan Bajaj, a liver specialist and professor of medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he, too, isn't sure what's causing the symptoms.
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"I'm as stunned as anyone else.
People try to be healthy and eat lentils, which are technically good for the liver.
It is shocking that this is happening,” she stated.
On the internet, some experts and consumers have wondered if the illness could be caused by aflatoxins, a type of toxin produced by a fungus that can grow on grain and seeds.
The company said Monday that it is testing for a "wide range of toxins known as mycotoxins, including aflatoxins."
"The first round of tests on the most common ones have come back negative, but we continue to cast a wider net to make sure we don't miss anything," the statement said.
Bajaj said exposure to an aflatoxin "could produce some of these symptoms," but it's just one of many possibilities.
Daily Harvest first issued a statement informing customers of the illness reports on June 19.
The company published a voluntary recall notice through the FDA on June 23.
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Some 28,000 units of the product were distributed to US consumers, according to the recall notice.
Anita, a customer of Daily Harvest in Plano, Texas, who asked that her last name not be published for medical privacy reasons, explained that she had a “whirlwind” after eating the lentil crumbs last week.
Her stomach started to hurt the next day and it got worse while she was in the park with her son.
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“The stomach pain was quite intense and I was right there in the park.
I was standing outside and then I started to feel very, very weak, like I was about to pass out,” she recalled.
Anita said she has been a Daily Harvest customer since 2019 for their vegan options.
The company was founded in 2015 and its business model is comparable to services like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh.
She is known for her celebrity investors, including actress Gwyneth Paltrow and tennis player Serena Williams, and
influencer
sponsors .
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Anita developed a headache and nausea and noticed that her urine was dark in color.
She went to her doctor, who told her that she should go to the emergency room for tests.
At the hospital, doctors informed her that her "liver enzymes were very high" and did a CT scan, Anita said.
She is waiting to find out more at the follow-up appointments and she is worried about what will come next.
"It was crazy, and what's also scary now is the medical bills," he said.
In his statement Monday, Drori said that "as the investigation has not yet identified a root cause, we are expanding our testing regimen to explore other potential, though less common, sources of contamination, as well as protein and amino acid profiling."
In response to a question about the lawsuit, the company responded that it does not comment on pending or potential litigation.
However, Daily Harvest stressed that it initiated the product recall as soon as it received reports of customer illnesses, is working with the FDA to investigate, and contacted customers who purchased the lentil product on multiple occasions.
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"Everyone affected deserves a response, and we are committed to correcting this situation," the company explained.
Marler said about 30 people he represents are sending samples of their leftover lentils to an FDA-approved lab for testing.
“These diseases are terrifying and they scare people.
Hopefully we can get some clarity because people want to know what their long-term prognosis is,” he said.