HUNTINGTON, N.Y. — A New York baker is seemingly in hot water, accused of selling Dunkin’-like donuts to a business and passing those donuts off as vegan and gluten free, according to several social media posts.
Cindysnacks, a vegan market based in Huntington, New York, said that it is considering legal action against Savory Fig, a vendor that allegedly sold them baked goods that were not vegan and gluten free as claimed, according to a statement from the market on its Instagram page posted on Sunday.
“There is a certain mutual trust and respect the vegan community, especially small businesses, have amongst ourselves,” the Cindysnacks statement said. “We might all live differently but we all have the same deep core values that consuming animal products is morally, ethically and ecologically wrong.”
“We are enraged that this trust and respect was broken and that we were unknowingly put in a position to perpetuate that betrayal,” the statement continued. “We want all of our customers and community to know we take this betrayal extremely seriously and are looking into legal action. We will update with any proceedings as they come. Most importantly, we want to apologize from the depths of our soul to anyone who unknowingly consumed these products. This is our nightmare come true and none of you deserved this level of disgusting perjury.”
The doughy controversy began when Cindysnacks alleged on social media that the owner of Savory Fig, on Feb. 23, dropped off baked goods the market had ordered, according to the Cindysnacks Instagram post.
One pink-glazed donut, in particular, was decorated in “strikingly similar way to a recognizable chain,” Cindysnacks said in its post. The donut was covered in little orange-and-pink sprinkles with a “D” shape, and bore a strong resemblance to the sprinkles and colors used by Dunkin Donuts.
“I pulled all of the items delivered out of our racks immediately and stored them in the back out of precaution,” the Cindysnacks post said.
The vegan market even went to the lengths of testing the donuts for gluten, claiming that those test results showed that “this donut (and most likely ALL of her donuts) contain substantial amounts of gluten,” it said in its Instagram post, which showed photographs of the test.
“Still trying to hold out hope that our trusted fellow vegan small business wasn’t doing something so horrific, we scoured the internet for possible sprinkle dupes that would make it make sense,” Cindysnacks said in its Instagram post. “We even ordered the sprinkles she claimed were the ones used. As you can see in slide 3, not only are these sprinkles NOT labeled vegan (or even list the ingredients on the Amazon listing), they do not even match the ones on the donut.”
“We can only assume, given this recognizable logo design, where these donuts really came from and what other ingredients they might contain,” Cindysnacks said in its post. “We have cut all personal and business ties with this person effective immediately. We are mortified that we provided any of her products to our customers and our own family. We trusted a well-known, highly recommended vegan and gluten free baker who has claimed to be working as a pastry chef for over 15 years. "
Cindysnacks also publicly posted text messages on Instagram that appear to be messages between the owner of the vegan market and the vendor, Savory Fig.
“I in no way mean to insult you or question your products but: This donut was in the box with the strawberry frosted. These are definitely little D Sprinkles, ones Dunkin’ Donuts uses, even the same colors as the Dunkin logo. If these are Dunkin’ Donuts the ingredients could kill somebody as we have so many ppl with severe dairy allergies that shop here,” the alleged text from Cindysnacks read. “I’m concerned with the donuts this week and am nervous to put them out.”
The following was a reply to that text: “These are definitely not Dunkin’ Donuts! If you don’t wanna put them out, don’t. But they are not Dunkin’ Donuts!”
According to the Boston Globe, Cindysnacks and The Savory Fig did not respond to requests for comment, and the latter appears to have deleted its Instagram account. The newspaper reported Tuesday that Cindysnacks said it will not grant interviews or issue any public statements on the matter.
Several people claiming to be customers of Savory Fig reacted by posting comments on Instagram.
“This is a health issue and I want a refund,” @jessicacastagna81 wrote.
@slynnebaby, who has a gluten allergy, wrote that the matter is “a complete betrayal through and through.”
“Anytime i had an allergic reaction after eating her pastries, i summed it up to cross-contamination from eating out, or sharing my kitchen with non-gf food,” @slynnebaby wrote.
One Instagram poster, @coliexsunshineee, defended Savory Fig.
“I do not know the woman personally, but I have bought many of her items at different shops and none of them came from a chain bakery, and none of them made me feel sick,” @coliexsunshineee wrote.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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