Rich Myers, the owner of Get Baked, a new bakery based in the UK city Leeds, took to Facebook after his shop was flagged for using American sprinkles in some of his pastries.
On Tuesday, Myers' thread about the entire ordeal was reposted on Twitter, where it has since gone viral. In the post, Myers writes that because of the complaint, he can no longer serve his top-selling desserts, including the Birthday Bruce and the Raspberry Glazed Donut cookie.
this bakery in leeds is having an absolute mare because someone reported them over using illegal sprinkles and it’s just so fucking funny to me
Get Baked's entire Facebook page is 100% worth the read (Myers truly has a way with words), but the real gems can be found where he goes off in the comments.
In the thread now dubbed Sprinklegate, Myers writes that he refuses to change his sprinkles to a legal version and is now contemplating his next steps in seeking sprinkle justice.
After reading the thread, the burning question is obviously, "How can a sprinkle be illegal?" Turns out, the American sprinkles Myers was using contain E-127 food coloring, which is only allowed to be used in cocktails and candied cherries across the pond.
Myers says he had no idea the sprinkles, which he purchased from a UK wholesaler, were illegal.
"I thought it was a joke at first, I thought it was someone pulling a prank," he told CNN after he was interviewed by West Yorkshire Trading Standards about the contraband confection.
Despite thousands of tweets begging for a reversal on the ruling, West Yorkshire Trading Standards stood by their decision to uphold the ban.
There's been hundreds and thousands of tweets about #sprinklegate😉. We stand by the advice given and would urge all food business operators, when seeking to use imported foods containing additives, to check that they are permitted for use in the UK.
If there could be a silver lining to an event as life-altering as #Sprinklegate, it's that Get Baked now has thousands of new fans.
The bakery even had to change their hours due to the influx of new customers and media attention.
And Myers has managed to keep up his trademark humor through the entire situation.
