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Twinkies are back, but will they be the same?

By Catherine Toth Fox • June 24, 2013 • Food

twinkies

It will be a sweet comeback for Hostess next month.

The company, which went bankrupt last year and sold off its brands, is bringing back its popular snack cakes like Twinkies, CupCakes, Ding Dongs and Donettes on July 15.

In fact, the new boxes will bear the tag line, “The Sweetest Comeback in the History of Ever.” And the website has a countdown clock.

But the question remains: will the Twinkies and Ding Dongs taste the same?

Because if they don’t, what’s the point?

I wasn’t convinced the last time I ate a Twinkie it was the same as the ones I grew up with.

There was something different, though I couldn’t place it. Maybe it wasn’t sweet enough. Or maybe they were smaller. I couldn’t place it, but I knew it didn’t taste the same.

And I didn’t like it.

I don’t understand why companies change formulas that were working for them, formulas that had made them successful. Does anyone remember New Coke? That was a disaster — and one Hostess should review before launching its beloved products.

What do you think?

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About the Author

Catherine Toth Fox

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10 Comments

  • Reply dbjack June 24, 2013 at 8:52 am

    None of the things they made when I was a kid taste the same. Of course aging taste buds could be the issue however I know that many older flavors have been replaced with artificially made flavors. AND… these artificial flavors serve a dual role as satiety suppressants so you remain hungry after eating.

    On the subject of New Coke… what a clever way to replace sugar with high fructose corn syrup. LOL. Clever indeed and reason … insert number here … why Warren Buffet is rich and you are not. Yep, Warren owns about 30% of Coke’s outstanding shares.

    As for Twinkies. When they changed all those years ago I stopped eating them. Will not start unless someone can prove it is the old recipe.

  • Reply J June 24, 2013 at 9:16 am

    Twinkies used to have lard. That disappeared at some point on the ingredient list and beef fat appeared.

  • Reply M June 24, 2013 at 10:02 am

    Hello Cat,
    I haven’t eaten a twinkie in decades and if i ate one now I wouldn’t know the difference.

  • Reply Annoddah_Dave June 24, 2013 at 12:57 pm

    Cat: I am not a Hostess fan…I grew up eating wild guavas, mangoes, lychee, loquat, lilikoi, etc. from the yard and other peoples yards. That was our snacks playing with the all the kids in the neighborhood. Who would want something baked when you could get a snack picked right off a tree or vine. But then again that was the “good old days”…long gone and never to return.

  • Reply hawaii2000 June 24, 2013 at 1:55 pm

    Will they taste the same? Let’s hope not. I never cared for how those things tasted–as much as I wanted them to, they always looked much better than they tasted. Now’s their chance to make an improvement.

  • Reply Aaron Porlas June 24, 2013 at 4:57 pm

    C’mon guys you’re over thinking this. Twinkies is an American Icon no matter how much they change the recipe. I loved Twinks then and I love Twinks now.

    I can tell you this, it’s better than the ones i’m making at home haha.

  • Reply eddyo June 25, 2013 at 7:40 am

    Good Morning,

    I’d say it might be possible your taste has changed over the years. When I was a kid, I tried sashimi, coffee & other “adult” foods (not at the same time!), remembering I can’t see what the big deal was–taste didn’t appeal to me then, but now wow-lau-lau! My wife tells me one day I’ll come to love the taste of Nigagouri (bitter mellon), I think not, but who knows…

    btw, companies try other recipes to attract different demographics (i.e., younger market shares), doesn’t always work but that is the work of marketing.

  • Reply rayboyjr June 25, 2013 at 9:56 am

    Hey Cat … I thought Twinkies were ok … but I was more a CupCake and Ding Dong lover … chocolate!!! … I wasn’t eating too much of it before they shut down, though … but I’m glad they’re back … just comforted in the fact that these snacks that I grew up with are still around …

    … and you gotta love the names … Twinkie and Ding Dong … classic …

    … would someone still have been called a Ding Dong had there not been a Hostess Ding Dong??? …

    … I have called many people Ding Dongs … sometimes I am the Ding Dong …

  • Reply D June 25, 2013 at 11:57 am

    Does anyone remember Banana Twinkies? -think they were only found in the islands

  • Reply Melvin vargas April 5, 2016 at 5:59 pm

    They don’t taste the same..I grew up on eating them and they are aweful now..they were softer fluffier and the bottom use to stick to the bottom and I use to love that part the most…before a box last me 2 days now when I brought a box it lasted me 2 weeks…I started giving them away..hope they come back with the real deal not this fake imitation crap…

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About Me

About Me
Born and raised on O‘ahu, Hawaiʻi, Catherine Toth Fox has been chronicling her adventures in her blog, The Cat Dish, for more than a decade. She worked as a newspaper reporter in Hawai‘i for 10 years and continues to freelance—in between teaching journalism, hitting the surf and eating everything in sight—for national and local print and online publications. She’s currently the editor of HAWAIʻI Magazine.

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