Update: Donut-Licking Incident Leads to Downgrade of Elsinore Shop

Photo courtesy of TMZ.com

By City News Service

Security video caught pop star Ariana Grande and a male friend licking doughnuts that had been left on a tray on a counter, but its the Lake Elsinore doughnut shop where it happened -- not the singer and her friend -- who are reported to be in trouble Thursday morning.

The video shows Grande and a man at Wolfee Donuts in Lake Elsinore about 11:30 p.m. Saturday “maliciously lick” doughnuts left on a display shelf, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

The shop owner took the video to detectives Tuesday and filed a report, saying the doughnuts were deliberately tampered with. But sheriff’s spokesman Armando Munoz told City News Service the matter is being handled by the Department of Environmental Health and there was no further investigation pending..

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• Ariana Grande Investigated for Alleged Doughnut-Licking Incident

California health laws require restaurants to protect all food from contact with the public. Doughnut shop manager Ricky Marin said the doughnuts sold out that night, so it’s possible someone ate those licked by Grande and her friend.

According to the Department of Environmental Health, the incident prompted an inspection Wednesday that led to the establishment losing a letter grade, dropping from an “A” to a “B.”

“The inspection revealed various violations that resulted in the facility receiving a score of 86,” said agency spokesman Keith Jones.

He said the store owner, Joe Marin, will have a week to make corrections, after which another inspection will take place.

The inspection report noted that “video associated with the complaint shows trays of donuts placed on top of the display case where customers had access.”

“Discontinue any sales of contaminated food product,” the report concluded. “Video footage shows customers licking donuts incorrectly placed on counter. Manager said that employee working at time of incident was not aware that donuts had been contaminated and placed them back in display case for sale.

”(Owner must) ensure that all employees are trained to place trays of donuts on rolling racks behind counter and never in an area where customer contamination can occur.”

The shop was also downgraded for failure to clean shelves, repair a broken floor and door and implement appropriate “utensil washing” procedures.

A store employee was swapping out older doughnuts with fresh ones when she placed them on the shelf, according to Joe Marin. Grande asked the employee to retrieve fresh doughnuts from the back of the bakery, so the employee left the tray of powered doughnuts on the display unattended, according to published reports.

It was then that Grande and her friend licked the tray during a game of “Truth or Dare,” Marin said.

The celebrity news website TMZ identified the man as Grande’s boyfriend and backup dancer, Ricky Alvarez.

Assemblywoman Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, reacted to the incident in a tweet Wednesday, saying “Dear Ariana: love your music, but next time u come 2 my city for donuts -- pay before you lick.”

On the video of the doughnut-licking, which occurred on the Fourth of July, Grande is also heard saying she hates America and Americans. She took to Twitter on Wednesday to apologize, insisting her comments were said “in a private moment” and “taken out of context.”

“I am EXTREMELY proud to be an American and I’ve always made it clear that I love my country,” she wrote. “... As an advocate for healthy eating, food is very important to me and I sometimes get upset by how freely we as Americans eat and consume things without giving any thought to the consequences that it has on our health and society as a whole.

“... However I should have known better in how I expressed myself; and with my new responsibility to others as a public figure I will strive to be better,” she wrote.