The Twinkie is Deconstructed

A twinkie isn’t just a cream filled cake made from milk, flour and eggs. When Hostess seals the little dessert treat into it’s individual plastic wrap it is a conglomeration of over 39 ingredients with a shelf-life of over 24 days. In Twinkie Deconstructed, Steve Ettlinger writes a road map for understanding the etiology of this familiar favorite Hostess snack. He chronicles his “Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats.”

Ettlinger’s work is quite simply not just about Twinkies, but about the path our country has taken in its attempt to preserve and manipulate nature’s goodness. This book is a perfect example of just one food item in the modern American diet, much of which contains manufactured and preserved foods with various amounts of processed ingredients.

Released March 2007, Twinkie, Deconstructed is Ettlinger’s newest book for consumers. In it he writes in a simple, chronological style that examines each ingredient, one at a time, using both hilarious and disturbing examples of what science has accomplished in the invention of manufactured food. He clearly illustrates how modern foods utilize their chemically similar non-food ingredients to gain longer shelf-lives in the marketplace. Ettlinger researches the science behind individual ingredients, visits a host of manufacturing plants, talks with company employees and representatives. He winds up with a complete analysis of the Twinkie ’s 39 ingredients:

Wheat Flour; Bleach; Ferrous Sulfate; B Vitamins - Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate (B1), Roboflavin (B2) and Folic Acid; Sugar; Corn Sweeteners; Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Glucose and High Fructose Corn Syrup; Corn Thickeners: Cornstarch, Modified Cornstarch, Corn Dextrins and Corn Flour; Water; Soy: Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil and/or Animal Shortening, Soy Lecithin and Soy Protein Isolate; Eggs; Cellulose Gum; Whey; Leavenings; Baking Soda; Phosphates: Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate and Monocalcium Phosphate; Salt; Mono and Diglycerides; Polysorbate 60; Natural and Artificial Flavors; Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate; Sodium and Calcium Caseinate; Calcium Sulfate; Sorbic Acid; and FD&C Yellow No. 5 and Red No.40.

Recommended Reading: Another Azo-Dye Is Banned (Red 2G), this Time in the EU….

Ettlinger says, “When I began researching the ingredients for Twinkies, I naively thought that their raw materials were extracted from nuts, beans, fruit, seeds or leaves, and that they came from the United States. I was looking to link places with foods - along the lines of California wine or Maine lobster, but for thiamine mononitrate. It turned out that I was way off.

Although eight of the ingredients in the beloved little snack cake come from domestic corn and three from soybeans, there are others - including thiamine mononitrate - that come from petroleum. Chinese petroleum. Chinese refineries and Chinese factories. And there are other unexpected ingredients that are much harder to trace.”

Twinkies are not just a simple snack in a fast-paced world, they have been used as of all things, modern-day wedding cakes, and as if it wasn’t possible to make this junk food any junkier, deep fried after dinner desserts.

Ultimately, Ettlinger’s book is not just about Twinkies. On a higher level it really begs the question: when we consume processed foods, what are we really eating? His book ultimately begs yet another broader question; How are these chemicals going to effect everyone’s bodies over the long haul?

To find out more about the Twinkie:

• View CNN’s detailed televised report.
• For a funny look at the mystery of the Twinkie’s strange chemical properties read:
  Many fun things to do to a twinkie! (totse.com). The authors subjected the infamous Hostess snack to several experiments: Exposure, Radiation, Extreme force, Extreme cold, Extreme heat, Immersion with interesting results.
• Mmm Tasty Chemicals, a review at MSN.com
• Twinkie Fun Facts (neatorama.com)

Tags: Book, Experiment, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Hostess, Junk Food, Manufactured Food, Non-food Ingredient, Processed Food, Processed Ingredient, Research, Review, Snack, Steve Ettlinger, Thiamine Mononitrate, Twinkie

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Meet the Author

Caryn Talty

The editor of Healthy-family.org has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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