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Hostess Brands review: Terrible quality, taste 32

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6:07 pm EDT
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The New Hostess Bakery, Hostess Brands, etc., is foisting its old brand name, but selling terrible quality snacks. So far I've tried the old Hostess labeled traditional chocolate cupcakes and their Fruit (Lemon) fried pies. The new stuff is of excessive sugary content and lacking texture and flavor. Yecch! I suppose the buyers (Little Debby?) need to pay for their purchase, but it won't be with my money!

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The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.

32 comments
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Jody not impressed
, US
Apr 14, 2023 6:25 am EDT
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Basicly, your product is smaller, does not taste good, & overpriced.

The quality overall has gone down hill immensely.

I don't mind paying extra for something that's good quality & taste good, but I agree with most of the complaints from others, I couldn't eat it, I threw it away.

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MelissaHere
Barnstable, US
Feb 20, 2023 9:13 pm EST

Thought I’d try some Ding Dongs, since I hadn’t purchased them in a long time. Very small, and horrible tasting. Inside is dry cake with barely a squirt of tasteless cream filling. Waste of money and calories. I will not buy them again. Sad, they used to be so moist and creamy.

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Tink7
, US
Feb 06, 2023 2:39 pm EST

Ding Dongs are definitely different. I brought a box last week that is still at my house. In the days of old, a box would disappear in a couple of days. My kids and I agree that they are not the same and need to go back to the old recipe. My grandchildren don't like them either. Sorry Hostess, you have falling down on the job with this revamp! I won't be purchasing any more.

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HerbieTheLovebug
Goddard, US
Jan 06, 2023 9:34 am EST
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I bought a box of raspberry zingers the other day and they totally ruined the taste and texture of the original zingers. The cake tasted like a poor example of a Twinkie with the outward appearance of a raspberry zinger. I was thoroughly disappointed. Won't be buying again.

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Aimnalnation
Newark, US
Dec 21, 2022 1:30 pm EST
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This is about Hostess Donettes. They don’t taste the same as they used to, but even worse, there is some new ingredient that upsets my stomach and gives me a stomach ache. I could not at first believe this product was the cause, but it is, because there’s no other common variable. First it was the chocolate ones I had to stop eating. They did not taste good anyway. But now the powdered white ones are having the same effect. I should also say that this is the last time I will buy any bakery products of your brand. They are pretty tasteless and expensive, and now make me physically ill.

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Vera 🌻
Bakersfield, US
Nov 06, 2023 1:04 am EST
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I just bought powdered sugar donettes from Hostess and they taste and smell like chemicals. After some research I found that this complaint has been around for at least a decade and they refuse to do anything about it. I’ve noticed a change in taste before but this package is so gross that I literally can’t eat them. I won’t buy them again. Lil Debbie gets my business from now on.

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R Wayne Howard
Pathfork, US
Dec 13, 2022 5:50 pm EST

Hostess Ding Dongs have definitely changed for the worst . The taste is awful, something fake tasting about the chocolate outer layer, even the color is different. The inside sponge is dry and the white filling has no taste . The entire cake leaves an after coating in the mouth . Also Twinkies have no taste at all , the filling is tasteless and the sponge is dry . The size of both are smaller yet the price is higher . Very disappointed with Hostess.

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Tammy Tackett
, US
Nov 16, 2022 9:51 am EST

I ate two ding dongs because they are very little now and they were fine. Next day I bit into one and got a mouthful of some kind of nasty chemical taste. I couldn’t spit it out fast enough. Scared me bad. I can’t even try the rest. Have to toss them out 😥

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Brian Wolnick
, US
Dec 11, 2022 10:30 am EST

I have a box of ding dogs that taste horrible

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Barbara M Booth
Arcadia, US
Jan 05, 2023 8:02 am EST

I had the same problem. Trying to find out what I ingested. I purchased mine in December but they were expired in August. It wasn’t just bad sugar either. I got terrible stomach ache and diarrhea. Two of mine were ok but one I opened just about knocked me over with a chemical smell.

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Mickey&Maude
, US
Nov 05, 2022 7:44 pm EDT

Bought some of the Halloween themed cakes - filmy, waxy dry and the taste? Yuk.

One bite and it all went in the garbage - not giving that as a treat to my family.

Use quality ingredients? You get a quality product.

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Ddoolin
Farmersville, US
Sep 25, 2022 1:10 am EDT
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Terrible product lately. Doesn't taste the same texture is bad also. Expensive. Now I need to throw the away

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Ddoolin
Farmersville, US
Sep 25, 2022 1:08 am EDT
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What happened to hostess?

They are terrible. I bought ho ho s

They are awful. Not chocolate at all and a waste of my money. The texture was wrong also. I could have bought a different junk food but hostess was always good. I won't purchase ever again

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wsbecamelou
Hebron, US
Sep 11, 2022 6:43 am EDT

I bought Hostess powdered mini donuts today and am very disappointed. They have a weird flavor. The taste is not at all what I remember.

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Rave411
Cordova, US
Jun 26, 2022 1:07 pm EDT
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Just bought a box of Twinkies. Wow! They are so disgusting nowadays. Taste like chemicals and the cake is not cake like in the past. I will never buy another Hostess product ever again. The whole recipe is different and nasty. I refuse to eat the rest of them or feed them to my kids. In the trash they go! Lesson learned! I don’t trust them anymore.

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Isabel York
, US
Oct 28, 2022 4:40 am EDT
Replying to comment of Rave411

You probably ate a rotten one dude. They don't normally taste like chemicals. Give the cake the "sniff test" first. If it doesn't smell like sugar and cream it's probably moldy.

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Upchuck
burns, US
May 23, 2022 3:27 pm EDT

Purchased Hostess chocolate cupcake and they have a horrible chemical taste.

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Debra Mahaffey
, US
Aug 15, 2021 1:20 pm EDT

I got the Hostess Ho Ho's and so did my friend buy a pack. We both said YUCKY! This is not the Ho Ho's we knew. Yes we are 62 years old BUT we can still taste. The chocolate coating taste like WAX!
Honey just close shop if you can't distribute the same quality product. Your Name means a lot. Just know when to fold them and that's now.

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Navi282
St Paul, US
Jul 08, 2021 3:24 pm EDT

I grew up with Hostess snacks back in the 70's and they were always good -- but after the company has changed hands twice now, the lack of love for the products is obvious and all I taste is cheap labor, unhappy worker's thoughts, and overall garbage. The new "Hostess" is a mockery of the original brand. They have lost me as a customer.

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JR664
, US
Jun 27, 2020 3:55 pm EDT

Went to the grocery store yesterday and saw hostess snacks and thought about it- I grabbed some twinkies but had second thoughts about how cheap and small they are and put them back on the shelf. I purchased store made donuts instead. I am very disappointed how hostess radically changed. Just because the name has been around for a long time doesn’t mean the quality is still there.

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NorthKro
, US
Oct 08, 2017 11:57 am EDT
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We got two Chocolate Hostess Creme (what makes it creme?) Pies from the Come and Go yesterday, and I wish we hadn't. The pies (especially chocolate) have been our favorite since we were kids, getting them at the Hostess discount outlet store. These were nothing like what we remember. Small, over priced, bland and weirdly textured. They didn't taste like chocolate, crust, or glaze. The crust was sort of chewy, as if it was only partially cooked and the pudding felt somewhere between glue and silly putty. We couldn't even finish eating them, and mine hurt my stomach. What a disappointing waste.

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bonboncookies
, US
Jul 07, 2017 2:11 pm EDT

I excitedly purchased the new Peanut Butter Ho Ho's. Opened the package and to my dismay, wondered where the rest of them went. So small and no flavor of anything. Not the chocolate and definitely not the peanut butter. I believe if Hostess can't be back doing it right, then let us have our great memories and let that be that. Sorry to say, have had problems with a few other products here and there, but this was the final blow.

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Elizabeth Monroe
, US
Mar 04, 2017 10:20 pm EST

I recently brought white fudge ding dongs. I opened the box up and four of the single serve packs were not sealed. I threw them away because I was afraid someone did something to them. We ate the other ones and they were good.
emonroe7225@gmail.com 03-04-2017

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wynbrcw
, US
Jan 09, 2017 11:48 am EST
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Suzzie q's a big mistake, if you ever had an original you would not make these, disqusting

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Madeline Maturo
, US
Aug 28, 2016 4:12 pm EDT

Hostess Suzie Q's are very dry. The taste is not as good as the old ones. However the cream is good.

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Tommy Petrey
, US
Aug 18, 2016 6:12 pm EDT

hostess suzy q's cakes... not near as good as the old ones... the texture is not good and you cut down the size of the cake...could u all go back to the old style of cake...will never buy anymore of the suzy q's until u redo them

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Lynanne Goodwin
, US
Nov 04, 2015 12:45 pm EST

Upon purchasing a box of Ding Dongs, when opened to transfer to container, one of the wrappers held NO cake. Please explain. Also in agreement, product is much smaller, what's up with thi?.

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tired of getting jipped!
, US
Sep 03, 2015 7:22 pm EDT
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I just recently bought a box of hostess "ding dongs"and upon opening them immediately realized that hostess has done the same thing as the rest of the big name companies and have made their product MUCH smaller and has probably raised the price as well! Im beyond sick of seeing this happen to what was once a good product! All these big name companies are concerned about is making more and more money and will gladly rip off the consumers in doing so! Everything is getting smaller and smaller while the prices keep going up and up! This is how these people (whom we as the consumers have already made rich) show their appreciation by continuously ripping us off by cutting corners on their product and expecting people to ignore that fact.its rediculous! For what its worth...I will NEVER, EVER purchase another box of ding dongs or any hostess products again! When You people at hostess changed the ding dongs and basically ruined them...you should have also changed the name to...HALF A DING DONG NOW!..what a freaking jip!.. Ps..I hope its worth losing your loyal customers because of your greed for the almighty dollar!

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Ken Covert
, US
Aug 07, 2020 10:12 pm EDT
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Taste fine to me... i'm sure they will keep their heads above water with out your business... normally they give a coupon for more... but since you aren't eating them anymore... there's no point!... soooo no! coupons! for! you! (the nazi coupon guy!) lol

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Thej Bassetts
Hillsboro, US
Jan 16, 2014 5:26 pm EST
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The Hostess powdered mini donettes are terrible. What happened? They are like foam rubber with large holes running through them. They have no taste to them. My Bassett hounds ignored them. They loved the old donettes! When a bassett will not touch them they are BAD.

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elliemae100
Marysville, US
Dec 13, 2013 10:38 am EST

Why did they come back if the quality wasn't going to be the same?
Texture, taste, size, packaging; it's all bad and the frosting has sort of a gray tinge to it. Ding Dongs: The cake is dry and the flavor is not there, there is not enough filling but it's also a bad taste anyway. The size is smaller and they look more like the quick bread rolls that come in a tube after they have been cooked. What happened to the thick hockey puck shape they used to be? What happened to the snap of the chocolate coating when you bite into it and then blissful moist cake underneath with creamy, yummy filling? What happened to the foil wrappers? Twinkies: I can admit I'm not a real twinkie fan but it seems twinkies are the same as the ding dongs. My kids commented when I surprised them with twinkies in their lunch. When hostess was gone I bought one set of knockoff and stopped. My kids didn't like them. Their comment was "wish the good one's were still around. Nobody can make them the same."
Get it together Hostess! I wrote a review to the company website and said the same thing. These are nowhere close to what they were before and their looking toward a 2nd bankruptcy if they keep the product the way it is.

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uk4ever
, US
Oct 22, 2013 6:53 pm EDT
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Moldy Hostess Chocolate cupcakes. 22 Oct 2013 date.
75% of 8-pack boxes have at least 2 moldy cupcakes. I went to the commissary at Ellsworth AFB, SD and found more moldy cupcakes.
All Hostess Chocolate cupcakes are horrible quality. Excessive moisture on the inside of the wrappers.
The white curly thing on top of cupcakes in no way looks like the Hostess cupcakes of the old days.