Months after laying off 15 percent of its workforce and sickening hundreds of customers with a lentil dish, meal-delivery service, Daily Harvest is trying to regain its footing and has hired two new executives to help it rebound from a catastrophic year.
Mindy Perry and Stacey Payne will be joining the company in marketing and management positions, according to an Oct. 20 press release. “Having two talented executives of their caliber join the Daily Harvest team demonstrates our commitment to investing in our mission,” said Rachel Drori, Daily Harvest CEO and founder, in a statement.
The company has stayed relatively silent since June, when it revealed tara flour, a protein made from Peruvian tree pods, was the ingredient in its French Lentil + Leek Crumbles dish which caused hundreds of consumers to suffer severe gastrointestinal issues.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is continuing its investigation of the lentil crumbles, has reported more than 380 cases of illness linked to the meal. Nearly all of these consumers suffered similar symptoms of acute liver damage, with many enduring multiple hospital visits and around 30 undergoing gallbladder removals, according to William Marler, an attorney representing more than 350 people in the Daily Harvest outbreak. “Many people have had tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical fees,” he said.
Daily Harvest did not respond to requests for comment.
At least two other companies are now involved in litigation
Marler has filed two lawsuits against Daily Harvest in state and federal courts in New York on behalf of children who were hospitalized due to the crumbles. The suits were also filed against Daily Harvest’s manufacturer, Minneapolis-based company Stone Gate Foods, and supplier Smirk’s, which Marler said imported the flour from Peru. The original manufacturer of the flour is Peruvian company Molinos Asociados, according to Marler. “We’re still trying to figure out if we can have jurisdiction over them,” he said.
Stone Gate Foods, Smirk’s and Molinos Asociados did not respond to requests for comment.
Another meal-delivery service, Canada-based Revive Superfoods, has faced similar claims that tara flour in its Mango and Pineapple smoothie caused severe liver damage. While Marler, who represents around 30 people sickened by the smoothie, said Stone Gate Foods and Smirk’s have confirmed that they were not used by Revive, a Molinos Asociados spokesperson declined to disclose to the Daily Beast whether or not it supplied the company with tara flour.
