What is 'pink sauce'? Why experts say this TikTok-famous condiment is 'absolutely not' safe to eat (2024)

Social media has been obsessed of late with a vibrantly-hued condiment slathered on top of gyros, chicken wings and shrimp. This isn't your typical honey mustard or even the colorful ketchup of the early 2000s: This is "pink sauce," and people have questions about it.

The viscous sauce gives major Pepto Bismol vibes and currently has the internet divided. Some love pouring pink sauce on everything they eat while others, not so much.

Chef Pii, a Miami-based private chef, is the creator behind the viral pink sauce, which has garnered nearly 90 million views on TikTok and continues to draw curiosity. The sauce boasts a $20 price tag, something that doesn't seem to be deterring people from buying it. But what's in pink sauce?

According to ThePinkSauce.com, where Chef Pii sells the condiment, the ingredients include dragon fruit, honey, sunflower seed oil, garlic and chili pepper. Curious how it tastes? You're not alone. That's part of the hype surrounding this mysterious homemade pink sauce.

"It was sweet and spicy with a light ranch flavor," TikToker Trenton Stewart, who purchased the sauce, tells Yahoo Life. "As far as trying it on salads and other foods, I haven't experienced any digestive issues or adverse feelings."

Stewart shared a TikTok about the sauce that went viral: More than five million users have viewed the clip, in which he shows the back of his pink sauce bottle, pointing out the nutrition label reads there are "444 servings" ... per bottle.

While customers like Stewart received the faulty label, a few days later, Chef Pii took the app to clear up the mishap saying it was a mistake: There are actually 444 grams of pink sauce in each container, not 444 servings.

"The grams got mixed up with the serving size," she says in the video. "It's about 30 servings per container. It was a mistake. We fixed the issue."

Aside from the nutrition label mishap, customers on TikTok have noticed the color and consistency of the sauce is not the same across the board. It also doesn't seem to be packaged in a delivery-safe way — with many receiving open bottles that have leaked in transit or appear to have changed consistency during the shipping process.

TikTokers like makeup artist Destiny Simms, have posted TikToks chronicling their pink sauce taste tests. Simms' verdict? It tasted like a, "weird sweet ranch." In her TikTok, Simms asks friends if they'd "pay $20 for a bottle" of the sauce. "If you pay $20 for a bottle of this, you're an absolute idiot," one says.

Yahoo Life reached out to Chef Pii for comment, but did not receive a response.

But is Chef Pii following protocols established by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration? The short answer is — not really. She does note in a TikTok that she's "following FDA standards," explaining that she's currently in "lab testing" to get the condiment approved for sale in stores. In the meantime — kitchen safety measures aside — there's no official mark on her website or bottle indicating pink sauce has been approved by the FDA.

So is this pink condiment actually safe to consume? Food experts say no.

Brigette Joseph is a food safety expert and chef who advises against ordering the sauce.

"It is absolutely not safe to buy unregulated food from strangers on a social media platform just because it has gone viral," she says. "It's different if, let's say you see someone from your city has started a small food business online and sells daily meals and you get it delivered fresh and hot to your home or office."

Joseph notes if products are being shipped through a mailing service to a far location the producer, "has to ensure they have tested their product with the FDA or the food safety governing board of their country, ensure the product has proper nutritional facts and ingredients on the label [and provide] an address or contact info for any redress."

In terms of the pink sauce, some ingredients — like raw honey, which is listed on the label — could have negative side effects. "In some cases, raw honey can cause botulism — an extreme case of food poisoning — due to natural bacteria that exists in it," says Joseph. "So it is no surprise that some people are reporting that they got violently ill after eating the pink sauce."

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