Panera Bread Employee Fired After Sharing Mac and Cheese Prep Video

Posted on by Kamesha Williams, DI

A former Panera Bread employee is now unemployed for her TikTok humor.

What We Know:

  • You may want to rethink sharing the behind-the-scenes details of fast food businesses if you want to keep your job. A Panera Bread employee learned the hard way after her Panera Bread mac and cheese preparation video went viral on TikTok. 
  • The short TikTok clip has gained over 6 million views, which was way more attention than the employee ever expected it to get. The clip shows the pre-packaged mac and cheese in a plastic pouch placed into boiling water to heat the frozen mac. The plastic bag is then cut open with scissors and poured onto a plate, which completes the preparation steps. They then serve the Mac and cheese to the customer. Although it may not sound as bad as it looks, some of Panera’s customers were disgusted while others expected nothing less from a fast-food chain.

  • The employee intended to jokingly “expose” Panera with the friendly video. Unfortunately, Panera responded by terminating the employee for her actions. “Lol I lost my job for this,” she tweeted in response to her video. 
  • Although many disagree with the termination of the employee, she accepts complete responsibility for her actions. “There was no wrongful termination. 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,” she said in an additional tweet.
  • Panera fully supports their mac and cheese prep process despite all the controversy. A spokesperson for Panera addressed the issue in a short statement to CNN. “The meals are shipped frozen so they can leave out certain preservatives that don’t meet the company’s clean standards.” 

We don’t feel as those Panera was “exposed” because this isn’t shocking. It’s called fast food for that exact reason. Easy and fast preparation along with frozen meals is a part of most fast food businesses, despite what some people may think. 

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