The Former Food Network Pastry Chef Who May Have Gotten Kicked Off For Stealing Recipes

Food Network is home to some of the most beloved cooking shows, from instructional programs to cutthroat cooking competitions. Since it started in 1993, it has launched the careers of celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay, Guy Fieri, Alton Brown, Ina Garten, and Rachel Ray. The network has also seen its fair share of controversy, witnessing dramatic exits and shocking scandals that quickly became front-page news.

One of the most controversial Food Network chef departures of all time was the exit of pastry chef Anne Thornton. Before Thornton rose to fame on Food Network, she worked in culinary production. She also worked as a personal chef, a pastry chef at New York's The Waverly Inn, and an executive pastry chef at New York's Hotel Griffou.

Thornton caught the eye of Food Network producers when she debuted her salted caramel banana pudding pie at the 2009 Food Network NYC Wine & Food Festival. The network offered her a show called "Dessert First with Anne Thornton," which first aired in October 2010. The show allowed Thornton to share her recipes for sweet treats and secret tips for baking like an expert.

However, the series only lasted two seasons before being unceremoniously canceled by the network. According to a 2012 article in the New York Post, Thornton was accused of plagiarizing or repurposing recipes from other acclaimed chefs, including Martha Stewart and Ina Garten. One source told the Post, "The network was very concerned because many of her recipes were close — with only a few minor edits — to other chefs' recipes."

The Post alleged that Thornton plagiarized a number of recipes, including a recipe for coconut-pecan frosting that was included in one of Martha Stewart's best cookbooks, "Martha Stewart's Cupcakes: 175 Inspired Ideas for Everyone's Favorite Treat." Thornton's recipe for German chocolate cupcakes was reportedly almost identical to Stewart's. Her recipe for luscious lemon squares was allegedly almost exactly the same as Ina Garten's recipe for lemon bars, and her mascarpone-stuffed French toast was said to be very similar to one that was included in "The Essence of Chocolate," a 2006 cookbook.

It is unclear whether any of the chefs whose recipes Thornton allegedly copied turned her in or were involved in the decision to cancel "Dessert First." Thornton herself claimed that her recipes were original and that she merely got inspiration from other chefs, and a spokesperson for Food Network told The Hollywood Reporter that the decision to cancel the show was "based on the show's performance." Since the show's cancellation, Thornton has appeared on episodes of the network's show "The Best Thing I Ever Ate," but has not hosted any other cooking shows for the network or any other networks.

While recipe plagiarism is not condoned in the culinary world, U.S. copyright law does not usually allow chefs or recipe creators to copyright individual recipes. Although the expression of ideas can be copyrighted, the ideas themselves are not protected. Thus, an ingredient list, steps for making a dish, and the actual dish itself cannot be protected by copyright. Anyone in the business of developing or sharing recipes is allowed to make their own tweaks to the recipe or express the ideas of the recipe in a new way without infringing on the original creator's legal rights. That said, professional and celebrity chefs are typically beholden to ethical boundaries that prevent them from repurposing another peer's recipe.

While recipe theft is a gray area in the eyes of the law, using another professional's recipe without attribution, even with minor alterations, is considered disrespectful in the culinary community. If you want to be a recipe developer, you should research proper recipe attribution methods before publishing any recipes inspired by other chefs or developers.

Thornton has always denied the recipe theft allegations, telling the Post, "I get inspiration from all my heroes... It's chemistry; it's not just cooking. So there are always going to be things that are the same." Since she left Food Network, she has worked as the executive chef at the now-closed New York restaurant 33 Greenwich as well as Little Pine and NeueHouse, both in Los Angeles. She also founded Áine Organics, has collaborated on meal development with meal delivery companies CookUnity and PlantX Life, and hosts pop-up dinner parties in Los Angeles.