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Twinkies, the US's favorite packaged sponge cake, turns 75
AFP ^ | April 29, 2005

Posted on 04/30/2005 6:30:44 PM PDT by kingattax

CHICAGO (AFP) - Every six seconds, someone in the United States eats a Twinkie, the creme-filled sponge cake that has climbed to iconic status since its inception 75 years ago.

To fuel this passion, Hostess factories pump out 500 million of the sweet, yellow cakes at speeds of up to 1,000 Twinkies a minute.

"It's such a simple treat. It's comfort food," explained Hostess brand manager Anne Drozda.

The Twinkie was invented in a Chicago bakery in April 1930 by a baker who wanted to make better use of shortcake pans when strawberries were out of season.

"It was the best darn tootin' idea I ever had," inventor Jimmy Dewar once said.

The creme-filled cakes sold two for a nickel in the 1930s and soon became a national favorite. Their iconic status was sealed in 1999 when the White House included Twinkies in the millennium time capsule because they represented "an object of enduring American symbolism."

The treat has played a role in a number of movies, including a scene in Ghostbusters where it is used to illustrate a spike in ghostly appearances. Twinkies were also a favorite treat of Pink Lady Jan in the musical and film "Grease."

The Twinkie has also made appearances in court.

One man managed to get off a first-degree murder charge by arguing that excessive consumption of junk food had diminished his capacities. Dan White was convicted on the lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter after he used the "Twinkie defense" to explain why he killed the mayor of San Francisco and the first openly-gay elected city official in 1978.

A man running for city council in Minneapolis was indicted in 1986 for breaching the Fair Campaign Practices Act after he served coffee, Twinkies and Ho-Hos to senior citizens at campaign stops. George Belair was eventually cleared of the allegations, but lost the election.

Over the years, the cake has become the victim of urban legends. Packed with sugar and made with a lot of hard-to-pronounce ingredients, Twinkies have an official shelf life of 25 days. The key to their longevity is the lack of dairy products, Hostess says, but the surprisingly springy texture of the cellophane-wrapped treats has led many to think that they are indestructible.

In one episode of the popular cartoon The Simpsons, convenience store owner tells Homer: "Silly customer. You cannot harm a Twinkie."

Many have tried to test the properties of the cakes, the most famous a pair of engineering students at Rice University in Houston who set up a website detailing a series of experiments they performed on the snack, dubbed the Tests With Inorganic Noxious Kakes In Extreme Situations.

The Twinkie was also the subject of an academic paper examining the hidden costs of every day things.

"If we added the subsidized labor cost for sugar, and do a rough estimate of the environmental and health costs involved in production and distribution, a 10-dollar Twinkie might not be out-of-line," wrote Distinguished Teaching Professor Richard Robbins of the State University of New York in a paper entitled The Political Economy of Twinkies.

Weighing in at 150 calories and 5 grams of fat per Twinkie, the snack is not very popular with people watching their waistlines.

The low-carbohydrate fad was cited by Hostess's parent company, Interstate Bakeries, as one of the reasons behind its decision to file for bankruptcy protection last fall.

Despite these troubles, Hostess's Drozda says sales have actually been increasing and insists Twinkies will be found on grocery and gas station shelves for years to come.

"There's no such thing as bad food, there's just bad quantities," she said


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: chubbyfolks; snacks; twinkies
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.Every six seconds, someone in the United States eats a Twinkie, the creme-filled sponge cake, seen here, that has climbed to iconic status since its inception 75 years ago(AFP/Getty Images/File/Justin Sullivan)
1 posted on 04/30/2005 6:30:45 PM PDT by kingattax
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To: kingattax

And they're so good with milk, too!


2 posted on 04/30/2005 6:32:18 PM PDT by Ciexyz (Let us always remember, the Lord is in control.)
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To: kingattax

Anyone got one of the first made??? You could make a killing on eBay with that one.


3 posted on 04/30/2005 6:32:24 PM PDT by Danae ( Anál nathrach, orth' bháis's bethad, do chél dénmha)
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To: kingattax

...and since they have a 75 year shelf-life, Hostess is due to make a new batch soon.


4 posted on 04/30/2005 6:33:12 PM PDT by fat city (Julius Rosenberg's soviet code name was "Liberal")
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To: Danae

especially if you have a twinkie that you can see the virgin mary on.


5 posted on 04/30/2005 6:33:21 PM PDT by kingattax
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To: kingattax
Every six seconds, someone in the United States eats a Twinkie...

Wow, he must really be fat.


6 posted on 04/30/2005 6:35:23 PM PDT by southernnorthcarolina (UNC Tar Heels: NCAA Basketball Champions 1957/1982/1993/2005)
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To: southernnorthcarolina
Wow, he must really be fat

I can't believe he doesn't choke!

7 posted on 04/30/2005 6:37:00 PM PDT by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: kingattax
Diabetics should avoid Twinkies.

Best way to do that is to get together with 15 or 20 of your best friends (also diabetics) and slice it into sufficient pieces so that you all get one small piece.

Do this no more than once a year.

8 posted on 04/30/2005 6:41:14 PM PDT by muawiyah
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To: Ciexyz
And they're so good with milk, too!

Hmmmmmmmmmm!. Might have to make a quick run to the store. Be right back ;-)

9 posted on 04/30/2005 6:41:35 PM PDT by barker (I have knocked on the door of this man's soul and found someone home, Zell Miller on G.W. Bush)
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To: southernnorthcarolina
. Bud Humpsnaggle spots a Twinkie that someone dropped on the sidewalk
10 posted on 04/30/2005 6:42:26 PM PDT by kingattax
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To: Danae

They are still selling the first batch. Stuff never spoils!


11 posted on 04/30/2005 6:43:58 PM PDT by mad_as_he$$ (Never corner anything meaner than you. NSDQ)
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To: kingattax

Spongecake Roundpants.


12 posted on 04/30/2005 6:48:11 PM PDT by JennysCool (Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have.)
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To: fat city

lol!


13 posted on 04/30/2005 6:48:21 PM PDT by hole_n_one
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To: kingattax
That's a big Twinkie.


14 posted on 04/30/2005 6:57:53 PM PDT by soundandvision
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To: kingattax
MMMMMMMMMMMM....TWINKIES!
15 posted on 04/30/2005 7:03:03 PM PDT by scott says
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To: southernnorthcarolina
Every six seconds, someone in the United States eats a Twinkie...

     
 

**Censored**

 
     

16 posted on 04/30/2005 7:03:24 PM PDT by mikrofon (Two Ton Tommy Twinkie)
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To: kingattax

Legitimate science? or Twinkie torture!!! You be the judge, see the Twinkies Project.

17 posted on 04/30/2005 7:04:54 PM PDT by concentric circles
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To: kingattax
Every six seconds, someone in the United States eats a Twinkie...Hostess factories pump out...yellow cakes at speeds of up to 1,000 Twinkies a minute."

Hmm...that means Twinkies are eaten at a rate of 10/minute, but produced at up to 1000/minute.

Where do the other 990 Twinkies a minute go?

18 posted on 04/30/2005 7:07:28 PM PDT by Mr Rogers
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To: kingattax
HA! On the Food Channel, they had FRIED TWINKIES :D..really digustinhg looking.
19 posted on 04/30/2005 7:31:24 PM PDT by skinkinthegrass (Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you :^)
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To: kingattax
There is something "different" about today's Twinkies.

Back in the early 1970s, I used to eat Twinkies and they just tasted so much better than they do today. They seemed much fresher, tastier and spongier. Twinkies of today leave a nasty aftertaste and they aren't as soft. Evidently, some chemical tampering has been done to the Twinkies.

20 posted on 04/30/2005 7:36:32 PM PDT by SamAdams76 (Don't You Think This Outlaw Bit's Done Got Out Of Hand?)
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