Olive Garden’s breadsticks just might be one of the most beloved chain restaurant items to date. And while we’re not entirely sure if it’s the unlimited supply or the buttery garlic finish that has earned it such a reputation, the allure remains.
However, just this week that reputation took a hit. In a now-viral video shared to TikTok, which has amassed over 366k likes, a user shared an image of their Olive Garden breadstick stamped with black letters.
“Guys why is there letters on my olive garden breadstick,” they said in the post. The chain quickly reached out, writing, “we are concerned to see this,” and asked for the customer to send over their full name and the location they visited. The company then sent a $100 electronic gift card in an effort to make up for the incident, the TikToker shared in a follow-up post.
Naturally, this has the breadstick-loving masses worried. “I have nobody to talk about this with,” one person wrote, while a second chimed in, “what location was this at plz.”
“They’re from frozen bags so the label must’ve like gotten on that one,” another TikToker suggested. “It’s like when you do the tongue tattoos with fruit rollups, the print stuck onto the bread but just a thought,” a fellow social media user agreed.
Delish reached out to Olive Garden directly, but have yet to hear back on the controversy.
A commenter claiming to be a former Olive Garden employee joined the chat to allegedly confirm the theory. “It’s from the plastic they come in and when they sit in the freezer for a while that can happen,” they wrote.
According to food scientist Bryan Quoc Le, Ph.D., this is indeed likely the case. “When frozen bread goes through frost and defrost cycles, it tends to condense moisture on the packaging. Some inks can bleed through the packaging material and transfer across the condensed water, creating the printed effect on the bread,” he tells Delish. He says that it looks like, in this case, “the printed packaging numbers had ink migration occur.”
While he says it’s not a common issue because “packaging inks are tested to ensure that the ink does not migrate,” it’s possible that the Olive Garden breadsticks went through “too many frost and defrost cycles” or “experienced relatively extreme temperature conditions.” The latter can cause degradation in the plastic packaging, which makes it easier to transfer the ink.
“It indirectly suggests that the packaging has been compromised in some way, perhaps with microporous holes that may have formed from age or time spent at different temperatures,” Quoc Le says. “This could suggest damage to the food product itself. Not all inks used on packaging are food grade, either.”
In general, non-food grade inks can contain heavy metals or organic compounds that are also not intended for consumption, he says.
In short: if you find a barcode or random letters on any food, you should avoid it. Make our own rendition of the breadsticks instead!
Megan Schaltegger is an NYC-based writer. She loves strong coffee, eating her way through the Manhattan food scene, and her dog, Murray. She promises not to talk about herself in third person IRL.