You may have seen a B次元官网网址淧ink SauceB次元官网网址� headline in your social feeds sometime in the past week. Maybe you skipped over it, but now itB次元官网网址檚 hard to escape. The Pink Sauce situation is real, and chef Carly Pii is taking it very, very personally.

But after going viral on TikTok and generating a mountain of criticism, her $20 Pink Sauce is already sold out.

B次元官网网址淵B次元官网网址檃ll really just gotta give me a break. YB次元官网网址檃ll gotta stop this negativity,B次元官网网址� the chef said last week in a YouTube video that clocked in at nearly 52 minutes. B次元官网网址淚 have to separate from this stuff. I cannot allow yB次元官网网址檃ll to bury me mentally.B次元官网网址�

The product launch has not been without its beginner-level problems, and those were compounded by the virality of the product. Pink Sauce, which personal chef Pii said she had previously served to private clients, became available for purchase at $20 a bottle on July 1. Before that, it was just a giveaway item.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e been using it and serving it to my clients for a year B次元官网网址� no one has ever gotten sick,B次元官网网址� Pii recently told the Washington Post.

While fans of Pink Sauce are sticking to their guns, others B次元官网网址� many of them on TikTok B次元官网网址� have been piling on with complaints and fears about the product.

If youB次元官网网址檙e late to the controversy, here are answers to a few questions about the Pink Sauce.

Who is Pink Sauce creator @chefpii?

Chef Pii B次元官网网址� pronounced B次元官网网址減eaB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� is a private chef in Miami. SheB次元官网网址檚 been in the chef biz for four years, she said in the YouTube video. And sheB次元官网网址檚 not letting the controversy around her viral product get her down. Chef Pii, by the way, is her TikTok username, not her real name. The single mother of two boys told NBCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭odayB次元官网网址� show she didnB次元官网网址檛 want to reveal her real name in order to protect her privacy. She introduces herself as Carly Pii on YouTube, where her account bears that name.

A month ago, the 29-year-old said, she had around 800 followers on TikTok. Now she has more than 142,000 followers with 4 million likes on her posts. Her videos regularly notch more than a million views. B次元官网网址淭his is a small business, yB次元官网网址檃ll,B次元官网网址� she said on TikTok. B次元官网网址淭his is a small business that is moving really, really fast.B次元官网网址� In addition to the sauce biz, Chef Pii offers private sit-down dinners, including B次元官网网址渕ixology service,B次元官网网址� as well as catering for 50 or more people, according to her Flavor Crazy website.

What are the ingredients of Pink Sauce?

The Pink Sauce website lists the condimentB次元官网网址檚 main ingredients as honey, chili, garlic, sunflower seed oil and dragon fruit B次元官网网址� aka pitaya. The productB次元官网网址檚 early label had a more complete list: water, sunflower seed oil, raw honey, distilled vinegar, garlic, pitaya, pink Himalayan sea salt and less than 2% dried spices, lemon juice, milk and citric acid.

Since then, Pii said on YouTube, B次元官网网址渕ilkB次元官网网址� has been changed to B次元官网网址渄ry milk.B次元官网网址� Also, there is now a reference to refrigerating the sauce.

How did she get the idea to use dragon fruit?

Pii suffers from B次元官网网址� or used to suffer from B次元官网网址� anxiety. Dragon fruit was part of her solution.

B次元官网网址淒ragon fruit is rich in magnesium, which helped me out with my anxiety,B次元官网网址� she said on YouTube. B次元官网网址淭hat is my personal story, and that is why I love dragon fruit.B次元官网网址� She describes its subtle, sweet flavor and its pronounced, B次元官网网址渄enseB次元官网网址� color as similar to the coloring in beets.

Why does the sauceB次元官网网址檚 color keep changing?

In myriad images online, the color of Pink Sauce is all over the place, ranging from pop-of-color fuchsia to something approximating Pepto-Bismol.

Which brings us back to that similar-to-beets description of dragon fruitB次元官网网址檚 color. It turns out that dragon fruit has a beets-like effect on the human digestive tract: It turns poop red. So Pii said on YouTube that she adjusted the color down from the vibrant hue seen in early TikToks in response to customer comments.

Why would people worry about food poisoning?

Apparently, some bottles of Pink Sauce were shipped in bags instead of boxes, and they arrived damaged. Also people noticed that the ingredients included milk, but the bottles werenB次元官网网址檛 shipped with any sort of refrigeration or indication that they should be refrigerated.

B次元官网网址淵ou are selling rotten sauce to people in the summer heat,B次元官网网址� TikTok user Misha Curiel said in a video criticizing Pink Sauce last week. That video was watched more than 830,000 times, showing the strength of the #pinksauce trend.

Most of the rest of CurielB次元官网网址檚 dozen videos have been watched less than 6,000 times, but she went back to six-figure views with a follow-up post reporting unsubstantiated allegations about the sauce.

Wait, how many servings are in a package?

Early nutritional labels on the Pink Sauce asserted there were 444 servings per package, which would make for a pretty gigantic package, given that the correct amount of a serving is listed as 1 tablespoon, or 14.4 grams.

Turns out that there are 444 grams of sauce in each package. Unfortunately, that number got put in the wrong place on the label. And vinegar was in the ingredients list misspelled as B次元官网网址渧ingar.B次元官网网址� They were both simple mistakes.

B次元官网网址淚f you do the math, you will see that we clearly accidentally made a typo,B次元官网网址� Pii said on YouTube. B次元官网网址淭he graphic designer clearly made a typo and put the grams in the servings. Now, you guys are judging a prototype. LetB次元官网网址檚 start there. You guys are judging a prototype. A prototype is when a product is not an official product. The Pink Sauce has only been an official product since the first of July.B次元官网网址�

What is Pii doing to address complaints?

She said she has sent email blasts to people who ordered the sauce and has offered either new products or refunds. She has also posted explanatory videos on YouTube and TikTok. She said in a video that she had B次元官网网址渘ot had a lot of refund requests.B次元官网网址�

Pii also emphasized in a video that the sauce is now manufactured in a facility thatB次元官网网址檚 approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and in line with FDA standards. B次元官网网址淲e are currently in lab testing,B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淥nce we go through lab testing we will be able to pitch to stores.B次元官网网址�

Is Pink Sauce approved by the FDA?

The chef caught some heat after an Instagram Live session where she appeared not to know that the B次元官网网址淔B次元官网网址� in FDA stands for food. B次元官网网址淲hat do you mean, B次元官网网址楩DA approvedB次元官网网址�?B次元官网网址� she said vehemently in response to a question. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 sell medical products. The Pink Sauce is not a medical product. The Pink Sauce donB次元官网网址檛 contribute to your health.B次元官网网址�

But Pii was making sense: While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does approve drugs and some medical devices before they are released to the public as well as certain ingredients before they can be used in foods, it does not have pre-market approval for food products, according to the FDA website. It does, however, have the ability to regulate foods when safety issues arise. So the fact that Pink Sauce at this point isnB次元官网网址檛 B次元官网网址淔DA approvedB次元官网网址� means pretty much nothing.

So what does Pink Sauce taste like?

Apparently it tastes a little like ranch dressing. But controversy swirled up online after Pii said she wasnB次元官网网址檛 describing what it tastes like because she couldnB次元官网网址檛 describe what it tastes like. Some folks accused her being mysterious simply because she was trying to hype the product.

But in one TikTok, she described Pink Sauce as B次元官网网址渟weet, spicy and tangyB次元官网网址� and recommended putting it on everything.

B次元官网网址淵es, this sauce is extremely controversial, but for my curious, artsy people that are actually into the Pink Sauce craze, like, I love yB次元官网网址檃ll. Thank yB次元官网网址檃ll so much,B次元官网网址� the chef said last week in a different TikTok. B次元官网网址淎nd the haters are not taking my light away.B次元官网网址�

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