OPINION
Who supplied the Tara and what is the likely contaminate or toxin is causing the illnesses? What say you FDA, Daily Harvest and Revive?
Over the last week, I have spoke to and been retained by over 160 people linked to the consumption of Daily Harvest products – specifically, the French Lentil + Leek Crumbles. This is a very interesting and tragic outbreak – nearly identical acute symptoms – abnormal liver enzymes and bilirubin, many with gallbladder involvement. Many have had multiple blood tests, MRIs, CTs, ultrasounds, liver biopsies and gall bladder removals. No positive clinical (human) test for a causative agent has yet to be determined. We are testing about 40 samples of the common food product – Daily Harvest French Lentil + Leek Crumbles.
One thing we have learned from reviewing all the product ingredients is that the Daily Harvest French Lentil + Leek Crumbles share one ingredient that other Daily Harvest products do not – Tara.
Here is just one complaint from a very long Reddit thread:
“Extreme stomach pain/sickness from lentil+leek crumbles.” See: https://www.reddit.com/r/DailyHarvest/comments/vcqwxe/extreme_stomach_painsickness_from_lentilleek/
Two weeks ago I tried the crumbles for the first time. That night, I had debilitating stomach pain, like nothing I had ever felt before. It was so bad I had to go to the ER as a last ditch effort to alleviate and manage the pain. After a CT scan, IV, meds, and a week on a bland diet I thought perhaps it was some sort of bug.
Several days later I tried a flatbread from them and had a fever the next day. I thought it was related to the previous bout of illness.
Fast forward to yesterday, I decided to try the crumbles again. Lo and behold I am awake with the exact same horrible stomach pain. Luckily I have prescription meds from the last time this happened and do not need to go back to the ER.
The crumbles were the ONLY common denominator between the last stomach ache and this one. I believe this product has caused me debilitating stomach pain that has taken days to go away.
Has anyone ever experienced something like this with the crumbles? And new buyers… maybe beware.
EDIT 6/17: Unfortunately a few hours after making this post I also came down with a fever of 101.8 that lasted over 12 hours despite me taking an NSAID. I also had severe muscle cramps and have been experiencing dark urine for 2+ days. I will be going to a doctor tomorrow for lab tests, just in case.
Thank you THANK YOU to those of you who have reached out letting me know about your situations. I have been majorly concerned about my health the last three weeks and this has been incredibly validating for me as I know it has been for a lot of you.
Recently, a number of posts on Reddit have questioned whether “Revive Superfoods Smoothies have been linked to liver issues sickness extreme stomach pain” See: https://www.reddit.com/r/revivesuperfoods/comments/voglbs/revive_superfoods_smoothies_liver_issues_sickness/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
One of the ingredients is also Tara.
Here are the two Reddit posts:
MY STORY ABOUT REVIVE SUPERFOODS AND LIVER ISSUES
After hearing the Daily Harvest Lentil crumbles story I was shocked. I went through the exact same thing. In March I drank multiple Revive Superfoods smoothies in a week. I began to experience nausea which led to the worst pain of my life to the point where an ambulance was called. I was rushed to the hospital screaming in pain and was given fentanyl because of how extreme this pain was. I was given a cat scan and told that my liver looked terrible and that I was in liver failure. My liver and gaulbladder were inflamed and had fluid around them. I was in complete shock as I am a healthy woman in my 20s. They were seriously discussing a liver transplant. My liver enzymes were out of this world 400 500 600s. ALT and AST. Billyrubin was elevated at points. It was a mess. I thought I was going to die. I was discharged after 4 nights because they didn’t know what was wrong with me and why my liver enzymes were elevated. I had to go back to the hospital again a couple days later due to more pain and was in there for another 5 nights and had a liver biopsy. Then the Month of April went by and I took it very easy as no one had any idea what was wrong with me. I then began little workouts again in May and drank some revive superfoods smoothies. I felt sick again with this dull back ache and stomach pains and I had a 102 degree fever. Sure enough when I got back to the hospital, my liver enzymes were climbing again. I had to get an endoscopy, and even after I was released I had to go back AGAIN because of the pain. At this point they gave me oxy to take home because they had no idea why I had these issues and they wanted me to be able to manage the pain. I missed a lot of work due to this. I missed months because I could not work consistently. I went through so much emotional and physical pain, I am still not living a normal life because of this. I could hardly walk. I was so fatigued and still experience this fatigue. Until the Daily Harvest story came out I thought I was alone. It never crossed my mind that a food could have done this to my body. Much less a food that was supposed to be healthy. If anyone else has had this happen with Revive Superfoods please share your story so that we can raise awareness
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The same exact thing happened to me! I’m based in Dubai and they recently expanded into the market here. I started consuming Revive Superfoods smoothies at the end of March and had 3 separate episodes of elevated liver enzymes (ALT & AST hitting the 700s / 800s; normal range is 30-32), jaundice, elevated bilirubin, fever, dark urine, severe abdominal pain, enlarged/inflamed liver and swollen abdomen. I was hospitalized for 4 days in April but discharged when all the viral, bacterial and parasite tests came back negative. My liver enzymes started normalizing (but were still very elevated) so they asked me to come back for weekly testing to track progress.
This affected the way I live my life and what I consume. I spent countless of hours in and out of doctors offices after being hospitalized to run several tests. The doctors were still unable to conclude a reason for my illness so I’ve been really careful with what I’m eating to be safe. As a result of my illness I’ve also had other health complications which I won’t get into as it’s pretty private (but devastating nonetheless).
I began suspecting RS smoothies so stopped consuming them completely towards the end of May. The last day I had a smoothie was 20 May and I had a liver episode the same night. The specific smoothie that caused my most recent episode was Mango & Pineapple: https://revivesuperfoods.ae/smoothies/mango-pineapple/
Now that the DH news is out, I finally connected the dots. It’s scary that so many people went through exactly the same experience I did and still don’t have answers.
Both DH lentil + leek crumbles and the RS smoothie I had share the same ingredient: Tara Protein.
I want to spread awareness about this to help others avoid what I’ve been through. It was horrible and I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.
Interestingly, Revive just recalled products in Canada due to Norovirus – which would not account for the illnesses described.
So, the question remains – who supplied the Tara and what is the likely contaminate or toxin is causing the illnesses? What say you FDA, Daily Harvest and Revive?
According to www.silvateam.com, Tara is:
Natural ingredient from Peru
A wide range of hydrocolloids and stabilizers are used in the food and beverage industry to perform a range of technological functions and offer innovative products answering to consumer’s needs.
Tara gum is a natural additive, obtained by grinding the endosperm of the seeds of Caesalpinia spinosa, of the Leguminosae family. Tara gum, also called Peruvian carob, is a white to yellowish powder which is soluble in hot water and partially soluble in cold water.
Chemically, tara gum is comprised of polysaccharides, mainly galactomannans, of high molecular weight.
Tara gum is approved as a food additive by the Food Chemicals Codex and functions mainly as a thickener and stabilizer.
Nature from South America
Caesalpinia spinosa is a shrub or tree that can reach a height of 8 meters with spreading, grey-barked leafy branches. The leaves are compound, bipinnate, alternate and spirally organized and reach a length of 35 cm. The fruit is a flat oblong indehiscent reddish pod which contains 4 ~ 7 large round black seeds composed of endosperm (22% by weight), germ (40%) and hull (38%).
The tara tree is native to the Cordillera region of Peru and Bolivia in South America, where the fruit grows from April to December. Tara trees grow at up to 3,000 meters above sea level and tolerate dry climates and poor soils including those high in sand and rocks. The tree is also resistant to most pathogens and pests. Mature pods are usually harvested by hand and typically sun dried before processing.
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