FDA Declares Tara Flour an Adulterant in Food

The ingredient had been linked to hundreds of illnesses from a Daily Harvest menu item

Citing a lack of safety data, the Food and Drug Administration announced this week that tara flour—a plant-based protein derived from the seeds of the tara tree, common to South America—would no longer be permitted in food items sold in the U.S. The agency said if tara flour is found in a food item, it will be considered adulterated with an illegal ingredient.

Tara flour was a prime suspect in an outbreak two years ago linked to a menu item, French Lentil Leek Crumbles, sold by Daily Harvest, a meal-service delivery company. That outbreak sickened almost 400 people across the country. Daily Harvest recalled that product in July 2022.

The FDA said that while it had no direct evidence that tara flour caused the outbreak, the event prompted the agency to examine how it regulates the ingredient more closely, and ultimately determine that it should not be allowed in food.

Brian Ronholm, Consumer Reports’ director of food policy, is not surprised by the FDA’s action but wishes the agency had acted sooner. “It’s disappointing that it took so much time and hundreds of illnesses for the FDA to reach this conclusion,” he says. “This case exposes a gap in our regulatory system that allows for unapproved food additives and chemicals to be in the marketplace with virtually no oversight.”