While not everything should be shared online, in this particular incident, it was beneficial that the individual’s actions were captured on camera. Earlier this week, an employee of Auntie Anne’s, Alice Chang, posted a video of herself working at the Mid Valley Megamall outlet. The video and accompanying photos showed the staff handling the pretzel dough without gloves and even kissing it multiple times.
The posts have since gone viral, sparking outrage among netizens. Many have called for Auntie Anne’s Malaysia to take immediate action against the employee for her unsanitary behaviour. Yesterday (Tuesday, 8th October), the company issued an official statement to address the viral incident.
In a statement shared across all Auntie Anne’s social media platforms, the company confirmed that Alice Chang’s employment at the Mid Valley Megamall outlet has been terminated. The popular pretzel brand also clarified via DM that the dough she was seen kneading was not used for baking any pastries sold that day, and she was not authorised to handle the kitchen in the first place.
“We are committed to upholding the highest standards of hygiene and safety for our customers and staff. We do not condone or tolerate any actions that compromise these standards,” the company wrote. To ease everyone’s concerns, the store had to be temporarily closed down for disinfection and will reopen once the cleaning process is complete. In a strange twist, shortly after the incident went viral, it was discovered that Alice is actually the sister of the notorious con woman Adeline Chang who previously made headlines for false allegations against several establishments.
The last time we heard from Adeline was when she collaborated with controversial content creator Bai En back in April. Following the revelation, netizens quickly criticised the siblings for their behaviour, with some suggesting they deliberately caused trouble for cheap publicity.
Update (9th October)
After visiting the outlet ourselves, we can confirm that the store has now reopened.
Watch a reposted version of the Alice’s viral clip below:
@moretify_official 面包店已经暂停营业了 alice pretzel
