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Food safety officials are following up on claims that a Patchogue baker sold Dunkin’ doughnuts to a vegan shop in Huntington and claimed they were vegan and gluten free, according to multiple reports.
New York State’s Division of Food Safety and Inspection confirmed with several news outlets, including the Washington Post, that The Savory Fig is being investigated for allegedly selling doughnuts filled with gluten and non-vegan ingredients while passing them off as their own vegan, gluten free creations.
The story has gone viral, with The Savory Fig facing harsh criticism in multiple TikTok and YouTube videos. Facebook users meanwhile have lambasted The Savory Fig on the company’s Facebook page, calling for ownership to “CLOSE YOUR DOORS” and poking fun at promotional posts of photos. “These look like Walmart cookies,” one user commented.
Greater Long Island attempted – but was unable — to reach The Savory Fig owner, Michelle Siriani, for comment, and her company’s Instagram page appeared to be down. A woman who said she was Siriani’s mother defended The Savory Fig and said that the claims “are totally untrue,” when reached by telephone.
The troubles started for the baker when a co-owner of Huntington vegan shop Cindysnacks went public about his suspicions that The Savory Fig had sold the shop a doughnut from Dunkin’, while passing it off as their own.
John Stengel posted on Instagram Monday a photo of a doughnut that he said the Savory Fig included in a Feb. 23 delivery. He was particularly alarmed over orange and pink sprinkles on the frosted doughnut that were each shaped like the letter “D.”
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.” Stengel wrote that he pulled all of the items delivered off the racks and “stored them in the back out of precaution until I could confirm what was or wasn’t happening here.”
Stengel’s multiple-slide Instagram post includes what appears to be a text exchange between Stengel and Siriani. In the back-and-forth, when Stengel expresses his concern over the “D” sprinkled doughnuts, The Savory Fig owner replies, “These are definitely not Dunkin’ Donuts!” according to the post.
“If you don’t wanna put them out, don’t! But they are not Dunkin Donuts!” Siriani added, according to Stengel’s post. “I would never do that!”
But in the exchange, Stengel presses Siriani to send him the brand of sprinkles she used on the doughnut. Siriani, according to Stengel’s post, showed him the sprinkles she ordered — multi-colored sprinkles (not just pink and orange) in the shapes of the letters that spell out Happy Birthday.
Stengel, according to his Instagram post, ordered the sprinkles that Siriani said she used and confirmed that they were not a match to the “D” sprinkles on the doughnut allegedly delivered by The Savory Fig.
Stengel, in his post, said — and illustrated — how he and co-owner Cindy Stengel used a gluten test kit on the doughnut in question.
“At the very least, this donut contain[s] substantial amounts of gluten,” the Cindysnacks Instagram post says. “We can only assume, given this recognizable logo design, where these donuts really came from and what other ingredients they might contain.”
@bakeanddestroy A Long Island bakery called Savory Fig was passing off Dunkin Donuts as their own “vegan and gluten free” baked goods until a vegan store in Huntington, NY called them out. #vegandrama #vegandonut #glutenfree ♬ original sound – Natalie Slater
In a subsequent Instagram post, Cindysnacks wrote that the company came forward “to keep our community of local vegans and those with food allergies safe from future harm.”
“We have seen our post and this story reach all over the country in TikTok and Reddit posts, and while we appreciate the support and concern for how serious this is, we are NOT interested in being ‘viral,’ the Cindysnacks post continued. “While we have received many requests to do so, will not be doing any interviews or giving any statements, locally or otherwise, as we don’t feel this will serve our mission.”
