A Panera Bread spokesperson is speaking out after a former employee uploaded a video showing how the chain's mac and cheese is made.
CNN reported the former employee posted the video to the social media site TikTok with the caption, "How Panera prepares mac and cheese."
The video by whose name is Brianna Ramirez, whose username is @briannaraelenee showed the employee in the kitchen and heating up frozen pouches of mac and cheese in hot water, then cutting the pouches open and emptying them into a bowl.
The employee gives a smile and thumbs-up at the end of the clip.
In another video Ramirez said the chain's soups are also frozen, but it's not against the norm.
"Most stores have frozen things," she said, adding that people should still go to Panera and that she still eats the soups and mac and cheese.
CNN reported another video showed the employee crying as she said she had been fired.
A spokesperson for Panera wouldn't comment on the woman's employment status but told CNN the food is shipped to restaurants frozen to meet cleanliness standards.
"Mac and cheese is made off-site with our proprietary recipe developed by our chefs and using our sourced ingredients that meet our standards for our clean menu offerings," the spokesperson said.
"There was no wrongful termination," Ramirez said on Twitter. "Having such long nails and my phone out is a risk to food safety and health regulations. Everything was completely justified. I made a mistake and i've learned from it. I will always love panera and their food."
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