For the past few weeks, the mysterious “Pink Sauce” has been trending on the Chinese social network, TikTok. However, some people who have consumed it have ended up in the hospital, in particular because of the vagueness around the ingredients that compose it and around its conservation.
The sauce will not have allowed them to see life in pink. Some consumers of the “Pink Sauce”, which is making a splash on the TikTok social network, ended up in the hospital after tasting the famous secret sauce. They have since wished to warn of the danger linked to its consumption, on the social network.
@mariexx_r #pinksauce #beaware #Donteat
♬ original sound – Susana Restrepo
This sauce has gone viral on TikTok, after its creator, Chef Pii, posted several videos where she tasted chicken tenders accompanied by the famous candy pink sauce. After other platform users received samples of the Pink Sauce, propelling it to the top of the TikTok trends, the tiktokeuse decided to market it, on July 1, at the price of $20 per 444 gram bottle.
A sauce with “mystery” ingredients but no storage advice
What makes Pink Sauce so successful is its mysterious color as well as its composition. At first, its creator wanted to keep the ingredients in this sauce a mystery, but then she decided to make the announcement via a video, still on TikTok.
@chef.pii PRE SALES STARTED 💗💗💗 Grab a Bottle Link in bio💗💗💗
♬ original sound – PINK SAUCE QUEEN 👑💖🤤
Small problem: the designer says that the only ingredients present in the Pink Sauce are garlic, honey, chilli, dragon fruit and sunflower oil, while the product label contains additional ingredients. Indeed, the label of the sauce indicates that it contains milk and vinegarwhile no storage advice indicates that the sauce should be refrigerated, an important advice for products containing milk.
The expiry date was also not indicated on the product label. These errors are surely the causes of the food poisoning of some people who consumed the sauce without having kept it cool who subsequently had to be taken to hospital.
The tiktoker has since updated the product label with the expiration date and the advice “keep refrigerated”. However, this was not enough to calm the bad buzz surrounding the sauce since some customers have complained to have received a sauce that had a pale pink color and not candy pink when others received a half-empty bottle, which leaked during transport of the package. Some customers have even received the sauce in a catastrophic state, after two weeks of waiting.
@r8ch3ll #pinksaucereview @PINK SAUCE QUEEN 👑💖🤤
♬ original sound – Kay
Marketing without authorization
Almost a month after the marketing of the Pink Sauce, Chef Pii caused the buzz again, but this time on Instagram and Twitter. While she was live on the Instagram social network, she was asked about the approval of her sauce by the Food and drug administration (FDA), which issues guidelines for the production and marketing of foodstuffs in the United States. The tiktoker replied “Why the FDA? My sauce is not medicine”thus making it clear that the sauce has not received marketing authorization.
“what do you mean FDA APPROVED?”
Y’all look 😭😭😭 https://t.co/uwarGmlT7z pic.twitter.com/kuYhVzFZ01
— Life w/ Derek (@derekarnellx) July 25, 2022
However, nutritionist and dietician, Anne-Sophie Despujols, explained to the evening edition that the composition of the Pink Sauce seems “completely correct” even if its pink color must come “of a chemical component, which is not indicated on the label. »
Despite this bad buzz, the tiktoker would have managed to sell more than 700 bottles at 20 dollars.
