Epidemiologic investigations implicated Daily Harvest brand French Lentil and Leek Crumbles as the possible cause of an extensive outbreak of hepatitis in 39 states. The Centers for Disease Control documented 393 diagnosed illnesses with 133 hospitalizations with some patients requiring surgery to remove their gall bladder.

Early in the investigation, Marler Clark, LLP, reviewed labels and determined that a specific ingredient, tara flour, was present in the specific products implicated in the reported outbreak.

This ingredient, unique to the Daily Harvest French Lentil and Leek Crumbles, was obtained from Tara spinosa a plant cultivated in Peru.

A recent study conducted at the National Center for Natural Products Research* located at the University of Mississippi identified baikiain, a nonprotein amino acid, present in Tara flour.  This toxic component (S)-4,5-didehydropipecolic acid, reproduced similar lesions in the liver and kidney of patients when fed to mice.  It is presumed that degradation of this toxic component of tara flour produced metabolites similar in their pharmacological action to high doses of acetaminophen.

The research conducted by the National Center for Natural Products Research, was funded by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and identified the toxin responsible, based on the initial observations by Marler Clark.  In contrast, the FDA only hypothesized that tara flour was responsible but did not pursue an investigation to identify the specific toxic agent.  Identifying baikiain as a novel toxin will facilitate diagnosis and prevention in the event of subsequent outbreaks.

*Chittiboyina, A.G. et al. Is baikiain in tara flour, a causative agent for the adverse events associated with the recalled frozen French Lentil and Leek Crumbles food product?-A working hypothesis Chem.res.toxocol. doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.3c00100 May 31, 2023