4C says some breadcrumbs did have trace amounts of cinnamon following investigation
Mother knows best.
Never doubt a mother’s intuition — or her trusty recipe.
Home cooks nationwide say they’ve been inexplicably tasting cinnamon in 4C’s Seasoned Italian Bread Crumbs, a staple in many Italian American pantries and beyond. Cinnamon is not supposed to be an ingredient in the company’s recipe.
Following a report by The Inquirer on possible changes to the breadcrumb recipe, 4C Foods Corp. said it would investigate.
Less than a week later, the major dry food manufacturer says those scrutinizing taste buds may have been onto something after all.
» READ MORE: 4C changed its breadcrumb formula — home cooks say their cutlets taste ‘terrible’
“4C Foods has conducted a thorough investigation in response to consumers reporting a cinnamon taste in some cannisters of 4C Seasoned Bread Crumbs,” the company said in a statement shared first with The Inquirer. “Our extensive testing revealed cinnamon present at 19/100th’s of 1% (0.19%) in certain bread sourced for our 4C Seasoned Bread Crumbs.”
The Brooklyn-based company added that it traced the minuscule amounts of cinnamon back to two bakeries “from which we will no longer be sourcing bread.” The bakeries were not named.
@jacobdoesphilly Controversy Rocks The Chicken Cutlet Community as 4C Changes It’s Breadcrumb Recipe #chickencutlets #philly ♬ original sound - Jacob Does Philly | Foodie
Home cooks who have insisted that something’s been off with 4C’s recipe for weeks — some for months — say the new findings are validating to a degree. But also frustrating.
“I have a very vocal mother who noticed it [a taste change] pretty immediately,” author and TikTok personality Judi Cutrone told NPR’s Weekend Edition following The Inquirer’s original report. “This is a dish — she makes chicken cutlets at least once a week. They’re always in the fridge. They’re always there if we come home. And you use the same ingredients every time when you’re making the dish, over and over again. She could tell right off the bat that something was off."
The appeal of using preseasoned breadcrumbs like 4C’s is the consistent taste. Especially in cases where families have used it for generations and even written the brand-name product into family recipes.
Nicole Veit Gesing of Glenside makes chicken cutlets and meatballs using 4C. In the last three weeks, she had to modify her recipe to accommodate the sweeter-tasting breadcrumbs.
“Obviously, cinnamon is causing the taste issue,” Veit Gesing said after The Inquirer shared the company’s findings with her. “Loyal customers are grateful they researched and listened.”
Rachel Harvey, another loyal seasoned breadcrumb user from Fishtown, said the company’s findings were validating. “So we’re not all imagining it,” she told The Inquirer.
4C extended gratitude to customers who voiced their concerns and apologized.
“Quality control really didn’t catch that. I’m so happy that this was researched and caught,” Veit Gesing said. “Maybe now my chicken cutlets can be normal.”