New. Original. Eye-catching. Possibly hazardous. All these describe the sauce that conquered social media for weeks: Pink Sauce. It was founded by Chef.pii on TikTok, who aspires to partner up with fast food chains in order to sell her sauce to a bigger audience and prove that she’s “NOT your average chef.”
This pink condiment includes ingredients such as honey, sunflower seed oil, chili, garlic, Himalayan sea salt, lemon juice, milk, citric acid, and dragon fruit, which give the dip its “natural” coloring. People were intrigued, and in no time, the product was everywhere. Fortunately enough for the creator, this sauce did go viral—just not in the way she might have intended.
Right after its release, Pink Sauce was heavily criticized for its lack of food safety. One user reported that the bottle they ordered had exploded, which sparked curiosity and condemnation all throughout the internet. Normally, the explosion or bloating of non-carbonated liquid bottles during transit indicates that the item hasn’t been packaged to meet shipping standards. In support of this allegation, another TikTok user shared a video showing an empty sauce bottle sitting in the sauce it supposedly contained, which had completely soaked the packaging box.
Subsequently, another report was filed against the constantly-changing color of the sauce. The creator dismissed it as the result of differences in “lighting.” However, this was again disproved by the media when several bottles were put together under the same lighting and the coloration still varied. This sparked even greater criticism against Pink Sauce, as people suspected that it could cause food poisoning. They speculated that the creator used an inconsistent number of measurements and a variety of ingredients not included on the nutrition label to formulate the sauce each time.
Along with food poisoning concerns, the creator was found guilty of making errors on the nutritional label and not including an expiration date. Foodlawexpert on TikTok stated, “Food labels are the only way you, as a consumer, can know what you’re putting in your body.” Thus, the law marks these labels as critical and essential. Regardless, the creator of Pink Sauce inaccurately and inconsistently stated the ingredients and failed to mention the expiry date, which could’ve caused nausea and other illnesses amongst consumers.
Many described Pink Sauce, which at first appeared as a new and unique idea, as a complete nightmare. Thanks to the media, more individuals were spared from the hazards of this condiment. Now that we know better, it would be of great help to establish a custom of never trusting everything we see—or purchasing questionable sauces simply because they are pink.
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