Hostess Frosted Chocolate Cake With Creamy Filling, Frosted Chocolate
Hostess Brands, LLC · Cookies & Biscuits · barcode 00888109012694
What stands out
- From the label
The ingredients list Titanium dioxide, Yellow No. 5 (tartrazine), Red No. 40 (Allura Red) and Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), 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.
- Additives4 ingredients have stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: Not allowed in the EU since 2022; West Virginia ban from 2028. Which
- TypicalFDA's tests of cookies & biscuits show what's typical. See levels
Additives with restrictions somewhere
From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2022-05-23). 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow).
- 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), Red No. 40 (Allura Red), Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow), 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.
Red No. 40 (Allura Red) (E129)
Only the shared rules above.
Yellow No. 6 (Sunset Yellow) (E110)
Only the shared rules above.
Bleached flour
- US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows bleached flour. Source
Typical for cookies & biscuits
What FDA found when it bought and tested this kind of food across the US. These are not tests of this product.
- Lead: typically 5.33 ppb (FDA, 9 samples, 2018-2020).
A toddler reaches FDA's daily limit at about 310 g (11 oz) a day; an adult at about 1.3 kg (2.9 lb).One serving (2 cakes, 90 g, from the label):29% of a toddler's daily limit7% of an adult's daily limit
- Cadmium: typically 26.7 ppb (FDA, 9 samples, 2018-2020).
A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 550 g (19 oz) a day; an adult at about 2.6 kg (5.7 lb).One serving (2 cakes, 90 g, from the label):16% of a toddler's daily limit4% of an adult's daily limit
- Arsenic (total): typically 3.7 ppb (FDA, 9 samples, 2018-2020). No US agency limit we can cite.
- Mercury, Perchlorate: usually below 1 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.
FDA samples behind these numbers
- Lead in Cookies, chocolate chip: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 7.57, highest 10 ppb (2018-2020)
- Lead in Cookies, sandwich, with crème filling: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 13.4, highest 24 ppb (2018-2020)
- Lead in Cookies, sugar: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 4 ppb (2018-2020)
- Cadmium in Cookies, chocolate chip: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 48.3, highest 68 ppb (2018-2020)
- Cadmium in Cookies, sandwich, with crème filling: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 18.3, highest 25 ppb (2018-2020)
- Cadmium in Cookies, sugar: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 15.7, highest 18 ppb (2018-2020)
- Mercury in Cookies, chocolate chip: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 0.57, highest 1.7 ppb (2018-2020)
- Mercury in Cookies, sandwich, with crème filling: found in 1 of 3 samples, average 0.53, highest 1.6 ppb (2018-2020)
- Mercury in Cookies, sugar: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 1 ppb (2018-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Cookies, chocolate chip: found in 2 of 3 samples, average 3.43, highest 5.2 ppb (2018-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Cookies, sandwich, with crème filling: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 5.6, highest 7.2 ppb (2018-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Cookies, sugar: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 3 ppb (2018-2020)
- Perchlorate in Chocolate chip cookies: found in 6 of 20 samples, average 0.53, highest 3 ppb (2008-2012)
- Perchlorate in Sandwich cookies w/ creme filling: found in 5 of 20 samples, average 0.6, highest 3 ppb (2008-2012)
- Perchlorate in Sugar cookies: found in 13 of 19 samples, average 3.07, highest 15.4 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, ENRICHED FLOUR (BLEACHED WHEAT FLOUR, MALTED BARLEY FLOUR, NIACIN, FERROUS SULFATE OR REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE, RIBOFLAVIN, FOLIC ACID), WATER, TALLOW, CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, PALM OIL, COCOA, SOYBEAN OIL, GLYCERIN, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS: MODIFIED FOOD STARCH, WHEY, BAKING SODA, CORNSTARCH, COCOA PROCESSED WITH ALKALI, SALT, HYDROGENATED TALLOW, EGG, INULIN, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, CALCIUM CARBONATE, SORBIC ACID AND POTASSIUM SORBATE (TO RETAIN FRESHNESS), EGG WHITE, CALCIUM SULFATE, ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, DEXTROSE, COTTONSEED OIL, SODIUM STEAROYL LACTYLATE, XANTHAN GUM, AGAR, POLYSORBATE 60, TITANIUM DIOXIDE (COLOR), CELLULOSE GUM, SOY LECITHIN, LOCUST BEAN GUM, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE, ENZYMES, DISODIUM PHOSPHATE, SUNFLOWER OIL, MEDIUM CHAIN TRIGLYCERIDES, DEFATTED SOY FLOUR, YELLOW 5 LAKE, RED 40, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, YELLOW 6 LAKE.
From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2022-05-23. Labels change; check the package.