Customers Miffed at Meal Delivery Brand Over Its Lentils

Daily Harvest's mission, as seen on its website, is "to make it really easy to eat more fruits + vegetables every day." But some consumers didn't find things easy at all after scarfing down one of the meal-delivery service's lentil-based dishes, and now the company has announced a recall. Customers are being advised not to eat the brand's French Lentil + Leek Crumbles meal after "a small number" of people came down with "gastrointestinal discomfort," per an email sent to a customer on Friday and seen by NBC News. A statement from Daily Harvest advises customers to "please dispose of [the lentils] and do not eat them," adding it had taken "immediate steps to address what we heard from customers," including "reaching out to every person" who'd ordered the lentil meal.

NBC notes, however, that patrons are miffed at the company, claiming it didn't act quickly enough after complaints started coming in. Luke Tashie tells the outlet he ended up in the hospital with "severe liver pain" after eating the dish, and that now he's stressing this could have long-term effects. "The surgeons that consulted with me were so perplexed that they seriously considered removing my gallbladder," he tells NBC, which notes that "dozens" of other testimonials similar to Tashie's are popping up on Reddit and Instagram.

The news outlet points to a 2018 Mayo Clinic Q&A that discussed lectins, a naturally occurring protein in lentils that some research has shown "could have negative health effects" if eaten raw in large quantities. "The amount you'd need to consume each day to get to that level, however, is much higher than a typical diet would include," the article states, adding that lectin breaks down when cooked. Indeed, the email seen by NBC reminds consumers that, "as included in our cooking instructions, lentils must be thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 165 [degrees Fahrenheit]." Daily Harvest says it has launched an investigation "with internal and external experts throughout our supply chain and in accordance with regulatory procedures" to get to the bottom of things. (More Daily Harvest stories.)