Knotty situation: Auntie Anne's closes Mid Valley KL outlet for cleaning after staff caught kissing dough

The Auntie Anne’s outlet in Mid Valley, Kuala Lumpur found itself in a knotty situation after a social media post of an employee kissing pretzel dough went viral.

In a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday (Oct 8), the employee, with her face mask down, can be seen grabbing a piece of dough without wearing gloves.

She then taps the dough with a pizza cutter and knife before raising it to her face and pretending to kiss it.

The Facebook post included the selfies the woman took as she kissed the dough, as well as a photo that appeared to show her being confronted by her colleagues outside the store.

The video and pictures had previously been posted to the employee's own Xiaohongshu account, according to comments under the Facebook post.

Netizens were horrified by the employee's actions, with some demanding answers from Auntie Anne's Malaysia and others vowing not to patronise the pretzel store any more.

One such netizen commented: "Auntie Anne’s Malaysia, may I know which outlet? But never mind, goodbye Auntie Anne."

Another wrote: "Auntie Anne's Malaysia, I seek your kind understanding that this shouldn't happen. Had you clarified that your worker has attended the food handler course before she started work?"

"Please give her a misconduct warning. I'm going to blacklist this brand of products."

"Auntie Anne's Malaysia please confirm if the disgusting employee in this shocking video still works for your company," a netizen asked.

The Mid Valley outlet will be temporarily closed for a thorough disinfection and cleaning, said Auntie Anne's Malaysia in a statement on Tuesday.

The staff member had been terminated immediately after the incident.

“At Auntie Anne’s Malaysia, 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,” said the pretzel store.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com