Imagine this: you walk into your local mall and are hit with the intoxicatingly sweet scent of Cinnabon. You keep walking, trying to ignore the aroma. But, as you get closer to the storefront, you tell yourself that you deserve a sweet treat. Next thing you know, you are at a nearby table with a warm cinnamon roll in front of you.
Cinnabon has become a staple of the American mall experience and, as one of the largest franchised cinnamon roll bakeries, it continues to invent new ways to eat the pastry.
However, Cinnabon’s menu item known as the Center of the Roll has been getting some flack on TikTok for being a fraud. So what is it really?
What’s wrong with the Center of the Roll?
One TikTok user, Maryem (@maryemelhileh), stitched another person’s video talking about the Center of the Roll menu item. Maryem’s TikTok, posted on Nov. 13, has over 1.2 million views.
The initial video shows a woman with an order of the Center of the Roll sitting at a table. While digging out a perfect bite from the cup, the woman says, “PSA. Don’t know if people know this but you can go to Cinnabon and purchase the center of the roll.”
Then, the video switches to Maryem’s clip. In response, she says, “I mean, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but those aren’t the center of the cinnamon rolls. Those are old cinnamon rolls cut up with extra icing on it.”
The TikTok ends with Maryem grimacing apologetically into the camera.
Viewers were not happy about this news
Maryem doesn’t mention her source on this topic, but viewers took her claim as truth and reacted accordingly.
“You don’t like happy people,” one user said.
Another user wrote, “I’m gonna act like I didn’t hear this.” Maryem responded with, “We ok with denial.”
Others backed up Maryem’s claims with their own stories about Cinnabon.
“As an ex-Cinnabon worker, my location didn’t rehydrate them. We just cut them up and put extra icing. They’re all rolls that we can’t sell as a pack because of the date, but we keep in the fridge,” one person reported.
Another person commented, “This. Back in 2004, I was in high school and a friend of mine who worked there told me this and not to order it because sometimes managers would use molded old cinnamon buns.” However, Cinnabon began selling the Center of the Roll in 2010 and not 2004.
@maryemelhileh Woke up and chose violence today😂😭 #cinnamonroll #cinnabon #facts #scam #desserts #breakinghearts ♬ original sound – Maryem🍉
Is Cinnabon lying to consumers?
So, what’s the truth here? Maryem may not mention a source, but she is not the only person who has claimed that Centers of the Roll are just old cinnamon rolls.
The Daily Dot reported on the same claim back in 2022 where a former Cinnabon employee revealed several company-kept secrets. One of those secrets was that the Center of the Roll was “a bunch of old f*cking Cinnabons that are chopped up, put in a cup with more icing on the top.”
Additionally, Cinnabon’s Center of the Roll is described as “bite-sized pieces of baked sweet dough featuring Makara Cinnamon and brown sugar, and smothered with cream cheese frosting.” In this description, Cinnabon doesn’t guarantee that the item contains only the center of cinnamon rolls which explains peoples’ claims that the item includes the rest of cinnamon rolls, as well.
Overall, Cinnabon may not be lying to consumers about the Center of the Roll—but the claims made about freshness are something to note.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maryem through TikTok comments and DMs and Cinnabon via email.
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