Hostess Brownies Made With Milky Way Bar Pieces
Hostess Brands, LLC · Cakes, Cupcakes, Snack Cakes · barcode 00888109010812
What stands out
- From the label
The ingredients list Titanium dioxide, Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red) and Blue No. 2 (indigotine), which have stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: Not allowed in the EU since 2022; West Virginia ban from 2028. Details
- Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
- RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
- Additives5 ingredients have stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: Not allowed in the EU since 2022; West Virginia ban from 2028. Which
- TypicalFDA's tests of cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes show what's typical. See levels
Additives with restrictions somewhere
From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2021-03-19). Recipes change, so check the package you have.
Rules that apply to more than one of these
- US (FDA): Allowed Source. Applies to Titanium dioxide, Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine).
- Texas: Warning label required from 2027-01-01 Labels developed on or after January 1, 2027 must warn that the product contains an ingredient not recommended for consumption in Australia, Canada, the EU or the UK. (SB 25 (2025)) Source. Applies to all of them.
- EU: Allowed with warning label (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008, Annex V) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red).
- California: Banned in school meals from 2027-12-31 Banned in food and drinks offered in California public schools from December 31, 2027. (AB 2316 (2024)) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine).
- West Virginia: Banned from 2028-01-01 Food containing it is treated as adulterated in West Virginia from January 1, 2028. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine).
- West Virginia: Banned in school meals from 2025-08-01 Banned in West Virginia school meals since August 1, 2025. (HB 2354 (2025)) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine).
- Louisiana: Banned in school meals from 2028-2029 school year Banned in Louisiana school food from the 2028-2029 school year (concession stands and vending machines exempt). (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine).
- Louisiana: Warning label required from 2028-01-01 Products containing it must carry a QR code disclosure from January 1, 2028. (SB 14, Act 463 (2025)) Source. Applies to Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Blue No. 2 (indigotine), Bleached flour.
Titanium dioxide (E171)
- EU: Removed from approved list from 2022-08-07 Removed as a food additive in 2022; food made under the old rules could be sold until August 7, 2022. (Regulation (EU) 2022/63) Source
Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine) (E102)
Only the shared rules above.
Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow) (E110)
Only the shared rules above.
Red No. 40 (Allura Red) (E129)
Only the shared rules above.
Blue No. 2 (indigotine) (E132)
- EU: Allowed On the EU's list of approved additives as E132. (Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008) Source
Bleached flour
- US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows bleached flour. Source
Typical for cakes, cupcakes, snack cakes
What FDA found when it bought and tested this kind of food across the US. These are not tests of this product.
- Lead: typically 3.9 ppb (FDA, 54 samples, 2017-2020).
A toddler reaches FDA's daily limit at about 380 g (13 oz) a day; an adult at about 1.5 kg (3.3 lb).One serving (1 brownie, 43 g, from the label):11% of a toddler's daily limit3% of an adult's daily limit
- Cadmium: typically 9.7 ppb (FDA, 54 samples, 2017-2020).
A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 1.4 kg (3.1 lb) a day; an adult at about 6.4 kg (14 lb).One serving (1 brownie, 43 g, from the label):3% of a toddler's daily limitunder 1% of an adult's daily limit
- Arsenic (total): typically 1.9 ppb (FDA, 54 samples, 2017-2020). No US agency limit we can cite.
- Perchlorate: typically 1.5 ppb (FDA, 40 samples, 2008-2012).
A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 4.5 kg (9.9 lb) a day; an adult at about 21 kg (46 lb).One serving (1 brownie, 43 g, from the label):under 1% of a toddler's daily limitunder 1% of an adult's daily limit
- Mercury: usually below 1 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.
FDA samples behind these numbers
- Lead in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 8.92, highest 16 ppb (2017-2020)
- Lead in Cake, white with white icing: found in 9 of 27 samples, average 2.56, highest 17 ppb (2017-2020)
- Cadmium in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 17.6, highest 40 ppb (2017-2020)
- Cadmium in Cake, white with white icing: found in 27 of 27 samples, average 4.13, highest 6.4 ppb (2017-2020)
- Mercury in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 9 of 27 samples, average 0.45, highest 1.9 ppb (2017-2020)
- Mercury in Cake, white with white icing: found in 0 of 27 samples, all below 1 ppb (2017-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Cake, chocolate with chocolate icing: found in 25 of 27 samples, average 3.6, highest 4.6 ppb (2017-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Cake, white with white icing: found in 10 of 27 samples, average 1.72, highest 7.4 ppb (2017-2020)
- Perchlorate in Cake, chocolate w/ icing: found in 12 of 20 samples, average 2.76, highest 14 ppb (2008-2012)
- Perchlorate in Cake, white w/ icing (formerly yellow cake): found in 12 of 20 samples, average 1.88, highest 9 ppb (2008-2012)
"Typically" is FDA's middle sample. Daily amounts use the long-run average and each chemical's daily limit (EPA reference dose, or FDA's level for lead) for a 33-lb toddler and a 154-lb adult. ppb = micrograms per kilogram of food. Source: FDA Total Diet Study.
Not tested
No published results for this product cover: Metals, Perchlorate, Phthalates (plastic softeners), Phthalate substitutes, Bisphenols. That means nobody has published a test, not that these are absent.
Ingredients (from the label)
SUGAR, WATER, BLEACHED ENRICHED WHEAT FLOUR [WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE (IRON), THIAMIN MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID], MILKY WAY PIECES (MILK CHOCOLATE [SUGAR, COCOA BUTTER, SKIM MILK, CHOCOLATE, LACTOSE, MILKFAT, SOY LECITHIN, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR], CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, HYDROGENATED PALM KERNEL OIL AND/OR PALM OIL, SKIM MILK, MILKFAT, COCOA POWDER PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, MALTED BARLEY, LACTOSE, SALT, EGG WHITES, CHOCOLATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR), SOYBEAN OIL, CORN SYRUP, PALM OIL, COCOA (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS: CARAMEL (SUGAR, WATER, EVAPORATED MILK, SWEETENED CONDENSED MILK (MILK, SUGAR), CORN SYRUP, PALM KERNEL OIL, INVERT SUGAR SYRUP, NON-FAT DRY MILK, CREAM, NATURAL FLAVOR, CULTURED NON-FAT MILK, DISTILLED MONOGLYCERIDE, SALT, SODIUM ALGINATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, SOY LECITHIN, CITRIC ACID), GLYCERIN, SOY LECITHIN, DEFATTED SOY FLOUR, EGG WHITES, CORN STARCH, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, EGGS, SUCROSE, SALT, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, POTASSIUM SORBATE AND SORBIC ACID (TO RETAIN FRESHNESS), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, BAKING SODA, ENZYMES, CALCIUM CARBONATE, CALCIUM SULFATE, AGAR, LOCUST BEAN GUM, SUNFLOWER OIL, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, CARAMEL COLOR, YELLOW 5 LAKE, YELLOW 6 LAKE, RED 40 LAKE, BLUE 2 LAKE.
From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2021-03-19. Labels change; check the package.