The Pink Sauce controversy continues this week, complete with reminders of what, exactly, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for when it comes to consumed goods.
As previously reported, the condiment has been all over TikTok and beyond after several clips of it in action from Chef Pii went viral. The sauce was listed for sale at $20 and was quickly made the subject of criticism, including from those who were not pleased with how the product arrived, as well as those who pointed out labeling errors. In a recent interview with Today, as noted here, Chef Pii said production had been “paused” at the time.
Questions about the product, however, have continued to pile up on social media. Most recently, a recording of a recent livestream (see below) from Pii has received attention, most notably for its mention of the FDA.
“What do you mean FDA-approved?” Pii said in the clip. “I don’t sell medical products. The Pink Sauce is not a medical product. The Pink Sauce don’t contribute to your health. I never said that, did I? Make it make sense in the stuff that y’all saying. … Since y’all want to act like children, I’m going to talk to y’all like y’all children. I used to work at a middle school.”
Around the same time this clip started to gain traction, Pii shared a TikTok directing her followers to a recently shared YouTube video (seen up top and spanning just under 52 minutes) in which she claims the sauce “was being made in an FDA-approved commercial facility” in Florida.
According to the federal agency’s official website, however, “the FDA doesn’t approve facilities.” Instead, the FDA has the authority “to inspect regulated facilities to verify that they comply with current good manufacturing practices.”
As for the actual intended meaning of the “FDA-approved” distinction, again per the official agency site (and as first pointed out this week byForbes), the answer is perhaps more nuanced than might be assumed. In short, in the FDA’s own wording, its responsibility lies in the regulation of “all foods and food ingredients introduced into or offered for sale in interstate commerce, with the exception of meat, poultry, and certain processed egg products regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).”
At any rate, see more on how the latest chapter in the Pink Sauctroversy is shaping up below.
