It's well established that pine shavings give off phenols which are very harmful to hamsters. Kiln dried pine is better but there is no standard for kiln drying to be sure that the phenols have been removed - and they are never fully removed. Any pine shavings used need to be both kiln dried and dust extracted, and say so on the packet. Even then there's usually a fair bit of wood dust. Then it's supposed to be safer - but there are so many safe alternatives now it's better not to use them. It also needs to say exactly what wood is - it's no good if it just says "softwood" - it needs to say pine or spruce (spruce is better than pine and has less phenols).
If it just says "softwood" it could be a mix of anything, including cedar and cedar shavings are the absolute worst for being dangerous - very high levels of phenols. The phenols are that nice pine smell you get from the shavings - which is much stronger for a hamster's respiratory tract than ours.
If anyone absolutely wanted to use soft wood shavings then the Chipsi ones are probably the safest - theirs are a combination of spruce and pine. Spruce wood - (it's been tested) only has the same level of phenols as hardwood - but Chipsi don't say what proportion is spruce and what proportion is pine. However the Germans do have legislation for very good kiln drying. The Uk doesn't. It could be good or bad kiln drying and not guaranteed to remove most of the phenols.
It's only the Chipsi classic that is the good one. Some other Chipsi bedding is scented or not a mix of spruce and pine.
Chipsi Classic Pet Bedding | zooplus.co.uk
As amity said also, hamsters can actually be allergic to any type of wood - even hardwood.
Agree - I wouldn't use the Snowflake shavings.