New York health authorities are looking into accusations that a baker passed off regular doughnuts from Dunkin’ as her own homemade vegan and gluten-free pastries.
Officials at the state’s Division of Food Safety and Inspection are following up on accusations by the owners of a Long Island vegan market who worried that one of their suppliers had delivered what appeared to be doughnuts from the chain instead of the ones the market had ordered.
“We are aware of it and are looking into it,” a representative for the division said Wednesday.
The complaint came days after the co-owner of Huntington vegan shop Cindysnacks took his suspicions about the desserts public. John Stengel on Monday posted on Instagram a photo of a doughnut that he said was included in a Feb. 23 delivery from Savory Fig, a well-known independent vegan and gluten-free baker in the area. The pink-frosted pastry was topped with orange and pink sprinkles in the shape of the letter “D” — which looked familiar, he said. Stengel wrote that he “immediately became concerned as to why this one donut was decorated differently than all the others and in such a strikingly similar way to a recognizable chain.”
According to an allergen and ingredient guide on the Dunkin’ website, every doughnut on its limited-time and permanent menus includes at least eggs, milk, soy and wheat, meaning none are vegan or gluten-free.
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The Instagram post included what appears to be a text exchange that followed between the Cindysnacks owners and the Savory Fig owner (the post does not identify her, but that company is owned by New York baker Michelle Siriani) in which the shop owners press her about the identity of the doughnut. “These are definitely not Dunkin’ Donuts!” the Savory Fig owner replied, according to the post. Stengel and co-owner Cindy Stengel asked Siriani to show them the brand of sprinkles she used to confirm that they were not from Dunkin’.
Share this articleShare“We (Cindy and I) were not given satisfactory answers nor evidence and in that moment knew deep down how bad this was,” Stengel wrote.
Eventually, according to the post, they ordered the sprinkles Siriani claimed to have used, only to find that they weren’t a match. The shop owners used a gluten test kit on the doughnut, they claimed. “At the very least, this donut contain[s] substantial amounts of gluten,” they wrote on Instagram. “We can only assume, given this recognizable logo design, where these donuts really came from and what other ingredients they might contain.”
Attempts to reach Siriani were unsuccessful, and her company’s Instagram page appeared to be down. Cindysnacks posted a follow-up message on Instagram saying they would not be commenting further, “as we don’t feel this will serve our mission.” In that update, the company said the owners had contacted health officials, including the Division of Food Safety and Inspection and the Suffolk County Department of Health. A representative for the latter agency said the matter would be referred to the state office if it was brought to its attention.
“We are mortified that we provided any of her products to our customers and our own family,” the Cindysnacks post read. “We trusted a well-known, highly recommended vegan and gluten free baker. … We want to apologize from the depths of our soul to anyone who unknowingly consumed these products.”
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