Last year Miami-based Chef Pii unveiled her infamous Pink Sauce on TikTok, and had social media in a frenzy. Some absolutely loved the sauce, and others not so much.
Several people complained about botched deliveries, incorrect labeling, and unsafe product conditions, like bottles arriving filled with spoiled sauce. Things even went as far as the FDA stepping in to investigate Chef Pii’s sauce and distribution.
However, things have really turned around since California-based sauce manufacturer “Dave’s Gourmet” announced a partnership last summer with Chef Pii.
We even got our hands on a few bottles and had some Roommates try it out to see what the revamp is all about.
“I have an amazing product, the pink sauce is a household staple,” Chef Pii told TSR Investigates’ Justin Carter.
And for $20 a bottle, it was arriving to some people’s houses rotten, riddled with spelling errors and inaccurate nutritional facts on the label.
Then she was scrutinized for a now-viral video where she appeared to not understand exactly what the Food and Drug Administration did, erroneously claiming her product was not a medical item and was therefore exempt from FDA inspection.
However, things appear to have changed since Pii partnered with Dave’s Gourmet over the summer, which has since gotten the sauce back on the right track.
“We literally turned everything around, new packaging, now we use glass bottles,” she said.
Critics now claim the sauce is more orange than pink, which Chef Pii says is not true. She did say they made the sauce a bit darker than before, but held a bottle to the camera to prove the sauce is still pink.
Four months ago, we reported the ingredients that went into the Pink Sauce: sunflower seed oil, chili, honey, milk, garlic, and dragonfruit, which gives the sauce it’s signature pink color.
Pii says they have since changed some of the ingredients to make it more shelf-life friendly, mainly replacing milk with coconut milk, and changing the sunflower seed oil for Canola oil.
“It’s still sweet, spicy and tangy. And it’s still my creation,” she went on to say.
She added that she’s put in so much work into this to “prove to the world that I can cook.”
But people are still mixed on TikTok.
“It tastes like a mix between Chipotle sauce and ranch,” one commenter noted. “I’m not lying, it’s nasty” another offered.
Kai Cenat gave rave reviews, and filmed himself dousing chicken wings in Pink Sauce claiming “it’s like ranch, but with a spice.”
The Shade Room also got an independent analysis. We bought a few bottles and had some Roommates try it out for themselves.
“It’s good on top of this chicken though, I ain’t gonna lie,” Chicago-based Roomie Brittany Hardaway said. “On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 7,” she added.
She also noted the improvement of flavors and consistency, calling it a “great alternative for ranch.”
Her friend and fellow Roommate said she could definitely see it working as a salad dressing too.
“She (Pii) did a complete 360. She fixed the spelling errors and I think it tastes pretty good. I love that for her.”
Chef Pii said there will “definitely” be other colored sauces coming in the near future, as well as a seasoning and a cookbook, which she said is coming out “really, really soon.”
The FDA, which did admit to an investigation into the sauce last year, did not comment on the sauces current status.
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