Read This If You Recently Purchased Hostess Snoballs

If you're not familiar with Snoballs, they're snack cakes made by Hostess (the same company that makes Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and Ho Hos (via Hostess). Snoballs are made of chocolate cake with a creamy filling, and are coated in marshmallow and coconut. They're called Snoballs because they're round and covered in a layer of powdered coconut on the outside, making them look a bit like a snowball. However, while coconut is a key component of the snack cake, it's also the reason Hostess had to issue a voluntary recall of the cakes across the United States back on April 10th (via the FDA). The recalled products are just the single servings of Hostess SnoBalls manufactured on March 13, 2021 with the batch code I031221000 and best-by date of May 27, 2021.

According to ABC WYTV, the company issued the recall due to an allergen being accidentally undeclared on the packaging. The allergen? Coconut. While it might seem obvious to long-time fans of the snowy snack cake that coconut is a key ingredient, someone who isn't familiar with the treat could suffer an allergic reaction as a result of the mislabeling, hence the nationwide recall. But how did this happen in the first place?

It turns out that the inaccurate packaging on the recently recalled Hostess Snoballs wasn't just a typo. According to the FDA, "certain Hostess® SnoBalls® were inadvertently manufactured in the packaging for Hostess® Chocolate CupCakes and the packaging does not list "coconut", an ingredient in SnoBalls®, as an allergen." Instead, the packaging simply says "frosted chocolate cake with creamy filling," which, while not technically false, doesn't mention the marshmallow or coconut at all. 

Luckily, no injuries or major reactions to the mislabelled snack cakes have been reported, but if you happened to buy one of them you're entitled to a full refund. All you have to do to claim this refund is return the Snoballs to the place of purchase. If you have any other questions or concerns about the recall, you can reach out to Hostess on their website, or by phone at 1-800-483-7253 (via Hostess).