A Burning Issue: Huy Fong Foods Continues Making Sriracha Hot Sauce

The Huy Fong Foods battle of the burned is now over. And Huy Fong Foods is given the green light to continue business as usual.

Huy Fong Foods, a hot sauce manufacturer in Irwindale California, was sued months ago by local residents. The residents complained that the odors wafting from the Huy Fong Food plant, due to their hot sauce, was irritating their eyes, giving them headaches and burning their throats. Sounds painful.

This is not just any hot sauce, however. This is Huy Fong Food’s most popular Sriracha Hot Sauce. So, it was very disturbing when lawmakers were considering declaring the Huy Fong Food plant a nuisance.

Finally, after months of battling, Mayor Mark Breceda announced that the lawsuit against Huy Fong Foods has been dropped. This decision was made after Breceda and two members of Governor Jerry Brown’s office visited Huy Fong Foods and met privately with CEO David Tran as reported by NBC Los Angeles. Maybe they dipped into a little of the sauce.

During the meeting, Huy Fong Foods expressed how they had upgraded their air filtration system which should remedy the smelly fumes.

Based on that information, and the fact that Huy Fong Foods has a staff of seventy full-time employees, and 200 seasonal employees that produce over twenty million bottles of Sriracha Hot Sauce each year, the lawsuit was dropped.

“We have to keep employment in Irwindale. We have to expand. It’s good for Irwindale. It’s good for California,” Breceda said.

It is also good for all the upcoming summer barbecues.

Breceda announced to NBC Los Angeles, “We came to an agreement with Mr Tran (Huy Fong Foods) today. We had a very successful meeting.”

One can’t help but wonder if that meeting included a big bowl of chili with Sriracha Hot Sauce. Did anyone smell their breath when the lawmakers left the meeting?

Yahoo.com says it was a verbal agreement, and Huy Fong Foods will be put to the test when their grinding season begins between July and August. At that point, if the city detects any noxious emissions, Huy Fong Foods will have to rectify them immediately. Heaven forbid the officials should have to go back for another round of chili. Correction: another meeting. Congratulations to Huy Fong Foods.

Photo Credit: NBCNews.com