The Savory Fig recalls baked goods amid NYS probe of Dunkin' look-alike
Chocolate doughnuts from The Savory Fig, which is recalling its baked goods due to possible undeclared allergens. Credit: Newsday/Erica Marcus
Michelle Siriani, owner of The Savory Fig vegan bakery, is voluntarily recalling baked goods after a controversy arose in March about a doughnut she supplied to the Huntington market cindysnacks that prompted an investigation from the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The recall is “due to a possible undeclared wheat gluten, soy, and/or milk allergens that may appear” in a half-dozen products including doughnuts, matcha cinnamon rolls and blackberry crumb muffins, according to a release posted on the state agency's website.
Siriani’s lawyer, Theresa Clarke, said while the state's inquiry is ongoing, Siriani’s home processor’s license is still active and she would not be fined. The product recall affects people who purchased and froze baked goods from The Savory Fig because the business has been on hiatus, she said.
The doughnut that caused a national furor was frosted with pink icing and featured tiny D-shaped orange and pink sprinkles that bore a suspicious resemblance to ones sold by the national chain Dunkin'. While Siriani said all her doughnuts were vegan and gluten free, cindysnacks co-owner Jonathan Stengel purchased a home-testing kit and said the doughnut got a “high positive” result for gluten.
"If these are Dunkin’ Donuts the ingredients could kill somebody as we have so many ppl with severe dairy allergies that shop here,” Stengel wrote at the time. The post got more than 10,000 likes, more than 1,200 comments and was covered by media outlets all over the country.
This doughnut was the only one like it in the box, Clarke said, and was part of a $713 order that included about eight boxes of doughnuts. Siriani knew the doughnut in question was not hers, but she had delivered other doughnuts with letter-shaped sprinkles in the past, Clarke said.
“Why would she in her right mind put one Dunkin’ doughnut in the order?” Clarke said.
Clarke also questioned the timing of the accusation, which was posted on Instagram March 3, when the baked goods were delivered Feb. 21.
Since the incident, Clarke said Siriani has received death threats, changed her phone number and has shut down her Instagram.
Representatives from the state agency did not immediately respond for comment.
