Twinkie Deconstructed

A while back I saw an Andy Rooney segment about the ingredients in Twinkies. One of them was the byproduct of jet fuel! (Insert video here! First one to find it wins a prize.) So when Kenneth put the book Twinkie Deconstructed on my Ipod I was excited to read it. The author decide to research the topic after his children asked him to explain the ingredients list on Twinkie package.

When it comes to Twinkies, and all process foods, shelf life is crucial. "Shelf life is the holy grail of packaged food," said Ettlinger. "In order to get shelf life, you give up something: fresh eggs, fresh cream, fresh butter…So you need to not only extend the shelf life with the product you're making but you have to replace those eggs with emulsifiers, you have to replace the butter with flavors or colors. You have to replace them with things. That's why the ingredient list starts getting long."

This book goes through the ingredient list one by one throwing out a few funny tidbits along the way. Did you know the creamy center of Twinkies used to be banana flavored? During WWI when bananas became scarce they began making the cream vanilla flavored. (Cue music: We have no bananas today.)

Do you remember that commercial from the 80's that asked kids to explain how the cream got into the center of Twinkie? My favorite was the kid that said, “It’s just born there!” I remember other kids having Twinkies in their lunches as school. But I don’t have many memories of eating Twinkies. I don't really care for that thick coated feeling they leave in your mouth. Do you wonder what that's from? This book explains it for you. Maybe I would like the banana flavored Twinkies? I prefer yellow Zingers!

Another book I recommend is Candy Freak. Kenneth and I listened to this on a road trip years ago and loved it so much we sent it to everyone as birthday gifts that year. It was especially fun to listen to on the road because we would scour gas stations through a few different states looking for specific candy bars. It is also a very interesting story about the history of Mars, Hershey, etc. Check it out!