When Minneapolis donut chef Teresa Fox heard that Huy Fong Foods Inc., maker of Sriracha Asian-style hot sauce, might be forced to shut its factory near Los Angeles, she knew she needed to stock up. The co-owner of Glam Doll Donuts, a hip bakery popular with a late-night crowd, uses the sweet and spicy chili sauce in the icing for her peanut butter and Sriracha-flavored "Chart Topper" doughnut. To ensure she would have enough on hand, Ms. Fox said she purchased five extra cases of Sriracha, each with a dozen 28-ounce bottles. "It's one of those things—once you discover it, you start putting it on everything," Ms. Fox said. Fans and business owners across the food-service industry, from quirky retailers like Glam Doll to specialty grocery stores and countless restaurants, are concerned they could face a serious shortage of the increasingly ubiquitous condiment brand, made by a family-owned company at two facilities in the Los Angeles area. Recently, residents living near Huy Fong's new 626,000-square-foot facility, which opened last year in Irwindale, Calif., have complained of noxious fumes. Late last month, the city sued in state court to close down the operation. A judge could decide as soon as Friday whether those claims merit a preliminary injunction, which would halt production at the facility as the case moves forward. The city claims that fumes generated by the plant's processing of chili peppers have caused eye and throat irritation and headaches among residents since mid-September...
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