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Hostess Brands: Over 700,000 Cases Of Product Recalled Due To Peanut Residue

By Patricia Ramirez
Published on: 11:06 PST, Jun 6, 2016

Hostess Brands is recalling nearly 710,000 cases of its popular snacks, reports AOL News. The voluntary recall, issued by Hostess Brands, is taking place because of a potentially deadly and unlisted peanut residue contained in its products. Included in the Hostess Brands recall are Chocodiles, Zingers, and Ding Dongs, as well as various doughnuts and snack cakes. The Hostess recall came following a recall from one of its flour suppliers.

Grain Craft, which provides flour products to Hostess Brands, recently recalled flour because it may contain low levels of “undeclared peanut residue.”

Peanut allergies can be potentially deadly, especially in cases where people eat food with undeclared traces of peanuts. As Fox 8 reports, you can get a full list of all impacted Hostess Brands products here.

Social media has erupted with concern over the potentially life-threatening peanut allergy reactions to the recalled Hostess Brands products, with some taking a lighthearted approach to the situation.

A statement from Hostess Brands indicates that the company is not particularly worried about deadly reactions due to the peanut residue, because the amount of residue is reportedly minuscule. However, out of an “abundance of caution” the pastry giant has decided to be proactive and issue the recall to prevent potential adverse reactions as well as to make sure customers know that such reactions are possible if they eat tainted products.

Hostess says the level of peanut residue in the recalled flour, and therefore in the Hostess Brands products, is believed to be extremely low, approaching trace amounts; therefore, they are not expecting it to result in life-threatening allergic reactions even in those who are allergic and then exposed to the product. However, to mitigate the risks and to protect the health and even lives of peanut allergic consumers, Hostess Brands has chosen to issue the voluntary recall.

So far, Hostess brands has been made aware of only two allergic reactions related to the current Hostess recall, neither of which were life-threatening.

If you have purchased a potentially contaminated Hostess Brands product, you may return it to the place of purchase for a full refund, reports the company.

Hostess Brands isn’t the only company currently dealing with a major and costly fallout over peanut allergies. Panera Bread is also facing some public backlash as well via a lawsuit after a peanut allergic customer was served a grilled cheese sandwich that contained peanut butter.

In that case, the parents of a child with a severe peanut allergy placed an order online through Panera’s online ordering service. The parent reportedly ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, and in two separate places on the online order form noted that the child suffered from a peanut allergy, reports Fox News.

In that case, the child’s food arrived and the sandwich had reportedly been smothered with a “large quantity” of peanut butter, in addition to the cheese. The parents didn’t realize that their child had been exposed to the allergen until after she had already taken a “huge bite.”

The girl had to spend the night in the hospital as a result of Panera’s mistake; she reportedly developed severe hives and a stomach ache. She had to be treated with an epinephrine shot.

The child’s parent reportedly called the restaurant the night of her exposure and asked if someone at the restaurant had added peanut butter on purpose (something that Hostess Brands certainly didn’t do).

“Is someone doing this on purpose? Because it’s two freakin’ table spoons of peanut butter on this sandwich, and it’s a grilled cheese.”

According to reports, the Panera manager apologized and blamed the incident on an employee who speaks and reads “limited English,” insisting that they saw the word “peanut” and took it to mean that the customer wanted the ingredient added to the sandwich.

Panera
[Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images]
The customers weren’t sympathetic to Panera’s plight and have filed suit against the company for an undisclosed amount. This is precisely the kind of lawsuit that Hostess Brands is trying to avoid with its voluntary recall.

To be fair, this isn’t the first time that a Panera grilled cheese has shown up filled with peanut butter. Just last month, the Wayland Panera served a grilled cheese with peanut butter to a child. In that instance, the child suffered from a severe anaphylactic reaction.

Unlike Hostess Brands, Panera includes a disclaimer on its website that they hope will release them from liability when a peanut allergic customer suffers an inadvertent reaction to one of its products.

“Please note that we cannot guarantee that any of our menu items are free of allergens because we use shared equipment and handle common allergens throughout our supply chain and bakery-cafe.”

If you or your children suffer from a peanut allergy, you are advised to return your Hostess Brands products (listed on the recall list above) to their place of purchase for a full refund to prevent any adverse reactions.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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