Fact Check: Viral Post Claims King's Hawaiian Advises Its Sweet Rolls Require Baking Prior to Eating. Here's the Truth
Claim:
The King's Hawaiian bakery company advises customers absolutely must bake its original Hawaiian sweet rolls before eating them.
Rating:
Context:
King's Hawaiian bakes its original Hawaiian sweet rolls before shipping them to grocery stores. Instructions printed on the back side of the product's packaging simply advise customers can "heat" up the product with a tray included in the packaging. The company advises 2-3 minutes in a conventional oven. Further, past messaging from the company's official social media accounts advised customers can either heat up the product "or eat them right out of the bag," adding, "Both are great ways to enjoy them!"
On June 20, 2024, X user @shawntifying posted (archived) pictures of the King's Hawaiian bakery company's original Hawaiian sweet rolls. The user's post featured the question, "How old were you when you found out you had to bake these?" Within six hours, the post displayed a count of over 5.4 million views.
X user @__Curtdoggg was one of the many users who reposted (archived) @shawntifying's post, adding with loudly-crying emojis, "So y'all been eating the bread straight from the pack?" That post also received well over 5 million views in a matter of hours.
The Truth
The post from @shawntifying displayed the words "had to" in reference to a supposed baking requirement. However, the King's Hawaiian company does not advise as a requirement that its customers must bake its sweet rolls. Rather, the company suggests customers might better enjoy the already-baked product by very briefly heating the rolls in a conventional or microwave oven. In other words, the rolls are not shipped raw or partially raw.
Advice from King's Hawaiian
For example, on Dec. 21, 2020, the official King's Hawaiian account on X replied to another user in a since-deleted post, writing, "You don't HAVE to bake them, but nothing compares to a warm King's Hawaiian Roll!"
King's Hawaiian also posted similar replies in June 2023 after some users apparently viewed other posts incorrectly claiming the rolls required baking. In response to one user, the company said, "You can bake King's Hawaiian Sweet Rolls or eat them right out of the bag! Both are great ways to enjoy them!"
Heating Instructions
The Raley's Supermarkets website displays one of the largest-available photos of the King's Hawaiian rear packaging in its carousel of pictures. The packaging reads, "Heat, Eat & Enjoy. Remove the tray of rolls from the bag and place the tray directly in a preheated oven at 300 [degrees Fahrenheit]. Heat for 2-3 minutes and enjoy."
The King's Hawaiian website also displays in its FAQ the question, "How do you heat your products?" The answer includes similar instructions for oven heating for 2-3 minutes and also added, "You will then have a sweet smelling home to enjoy your rolls." The website page included microwave oven instructions as well, reading, "You can also microwave the rolls for about 5-10 seconds in standard microwaves by wrapping it in a damp paper towel."
We emailed the King's Hawaiian company to ask for further information. We also sent a direct message to X user @shawntifying to ask about their post. We will update this story if we receive any responses.
Sources:
"FAQs." King's Hawaiian, https://kingshawaiian.com/faqs/.
King's Hawaiian. X, https://x.com/KingsHawaiian/.
"King's Hawaiian Rolls, Hawaiian Sweet, Original." Raley's Supermarkets, https://www.raleys.com/product/10620067/king_s-hawaiian-rolls-hawaiian-sweet-original.
