Donuts with syringes pulled from Minnesota State Fair new food lineup
One of the new foods planned for this year's Minnesota State Fair has been pulled following protests about its use of plastic syringes.
The Wingwalker Donut Flight due to be launched by The Hangar, in the North End of the fairground, was set to allow customers to fill their own doughnut holes with three fillings placed inside of a plastic syringe: Bavarian cream, chocolate custard and lingonberry jam.
But the sale of a product featuring single-use plastics, as well as the use of syringes to contain something seen as a "treat," prompted a backlash on the State Fair Facebook page and a petition signed by more than 3,000 people on Change.org.
"The waste generated (three syringes times thousands and thousands of orders) over the 10 day fair run is absurd," the petition said. "In addition, the image conveyed by syringes being cool and containing treats, not to mention being littered around on the ground is not one we should be wanting to promote."
On Friday, the State Fair confirmed in a statement to BMTN that The Hangar will no longer use plastic syringes as part of the flight and it will be removed from the New Food List.
Instead, it will offer cake donut holes served in a compostable tray along with the three fillings, which will be placed in three compartments for dunking.
"We understand the impact food packaging has on the environment, and The Hangar, along with the fair, has decided that plastic syringes will not be used as part of the Wingwalker Donut Flight," the State Fair said, saying it "immediately" began talks with The Hangar once it received the negative feedback.
It added:
"A small family-owned business, The Hangar is committed to improving its sustainability efforts. The owners will be changing all of their food service trays and boats to “eco trays,” a post-consumer recycled paper product; utensils made from wood will be given to guests instead of plastic forks and knives; and they will continue to use eco-friendly napkins made from recycled paper products."
The Hangar has created a new dish that will be added to the New Food List, called the "Tailspin," described as "tangy BBQ sauce drizzled on top of french-fried onions and fresh-made coleslaw, layered over pulled pork, elote, Oaxaca cheese and peppery spices – all on a seasoned hash brown waffle."
