Holey War! New York Bakery Wants Dunkin’ Donuts to Take ‘Artisan’ out of Its Bagel Ads

Are Dunkin' Donuts new bagels really hand-crafted by bagel artisans? A Queens baker is saying Fuhgeddaboudit.

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In the past five years, more than 800 food products have launched with the word “artisan” somewhere in their titles, from artisan candy to artisan chips to Domino’s Artisan Pizza.  But one New York City bagel-maker thinks Dunkin’ Donuts’ new line of “artisan” bagels goes a sesame seed too far.

Marc Fintz, the director of business development at Queens-based Davidovich Bakery, has taken legal action against the national breakfast-food chain, claiming the company is guilty of false advertising, Gothamist reports. Davidovich has filed motions with the Federal Trade Commission and New York State Attorney General, along with the Better Business Bureau, alleging that Dunkin’ Donuts “creates the perception that their products are produced by hand, using traditional methods in small quantities. This is not the case.”

(MORE: What’s Wrong With A Dunkin’ Donuts Bagel?)

At Davidovich, bagels are “kettle-boiled, plank baked, using traditional recipes,” Fintz told Gothamist. “Companies like Dunkin’—you won’t even see a human making bagels in their factory. It’s all machines, all robots.”

Though there are no federal regulations governing what foods can and cannot be considered artisanal, according to Fintz the issue is not subjective. He likens Dunkin’ Donuts calling their bagels “artisan” to deeming non-kosher products kosher or non-organic products organic. Although, to be fair, whether or not a food item is kosher is made clear through an extensive set of rules in a thing called the Old Testament. No artisan bible exists — at least not yet.

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