Twinkie

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Twinkies)
Jump to: navigation, search
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2012)
Twinkie
Hostess twinkies tweaked.jpg
Whole and split Twinkies
Origin
Place of origin United States
Region or state River Forest, Illinois
Creator(s) James Alexander Dewar
Details
Type Snack cake
Main ingredient(s) Wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, shortening, and others
For other uses, see Twinkie (disambiguation).

The Twinkie is a North American snack cake that is owned by Private equity firms Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. and marketed as a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling". Twinkie production in the United States will resume and they will be available again by July 2013[1]. It is still being produced in Canada by Saputo Incorporated's Vachon Inc. (at a bakery in Montreal) which owns the Canadian rights for the product.[2][3][full citation needed] On March 19, 2013 a Manhattan bankruptcy judge approved the sale of the iconic cream-filled snack to two investment firms, Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co. for $410 million.

Contents

History [edit]

Box of Hostess Twinkies by Saputo Incorporated (in production)

Twinkies were invented in River Forest, Illinois on April 6, 1930 by James Alexander Dewar, a baker for the Continental Baking Company.[4] Realizing that several machines used to make cream-filled strawberry shortcake sat idle when strawberries were out of season, Dewar conceived a snack cake filled with banana cream, which he dubbed the Twinkie.[5] He said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St. Louis for "Twinkle Toe Shoes".[6] During World War II, bananas were rationed and the company was forced to switch to vanilla cream. This change proved popular, and banana-cream Twinkies were not widely re-introduced. The original flavor was occasionally found in limited-time promotions, but the company used vanilla cream for most Twinkies.[7] In 1988, Fruit and Cream Twinkies were introduced with a strawberry filling swirled into the cream. The product was soon dropped.[8] Vanilla's dominance over banana flavoring would be challenged in 2005, following a month-long promotion of the movie King Kong. Hostess saw its Twinkie sales rise 20 percent during the promotion, and in 2007 restored the banana-cream Twinkie to its snack lineup.[9]

On May 4, 2012,[10] parent company Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[6] Twinkie sales for the year ended December 25, 2011 were 36 million packages, down almost 2% from a year earlier.[6] Hostess said customers have migrated to healthier foods.[6] On November 16, 2012 at 7:00am (EST), Hostess officially announced that it "will be winding down operations and has filed a motion with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to close its business and sell its assets, including its iconic brands and facilities. Bakery operations have been suspended at all plants. Delivery of products will continue and Hostess Brands retail stores will remain open for several days in order to sell already-baked products."[11]

Box of Hostess Twinkies by Hostess Brands (no longer in production)

On November 19, 2012, Hostess and the Bakers Union agreed to mediation, delaying the shutdown for two days. On November 21, 2012, US Bankruptcy judge Robert Drain approved Hostess' request to shutdown, ending Twinkie production in the United States.[12]

On March 12, 2013 it was reported, Twinkies are slated to return to store shelves by May 2013 after they, along with other famed Hostess Brands, were purchased out of bankruptcy by Apollo Global Management and Metropoulos & Co.[13][14] On April 25, 2013, a new time was giving to the return of Twinkies to store shelves, the later part of July 2013. All of the classic Hostess snack brands will return with some making their return in August and others in September.[15] In May 2013 the Twinkies are back in Mexican stores made by the Mexican company Marinela[16].

Ingredients [edit]

Enriched wheat flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable shortening – containing one or more of partially hydrogenated soybean, cottonseed and canola oil, and beef fat, dextrose, whole eggs, modified corn starch, cellulose gum, whey, leavenings (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), salt, cornstarch, corn flour, corn syrup, solids, mono and diglycerides, soy lecithin, polysorbate 60, dextrin, calcium caseinate, sodium stearoyl lactylate, wheat gluten, calcium sulphate, natural and artificial flavors, caramel color, yellow No. 5, red #40.[17]

Nutrition [edit]

[icon] This section requires expansion. (January 2012)

A single Twinkie contains 2.5 grams of saturated fat, representing 13% of the recommended daily intake of saturated fat based on a 2,000 calorie diet. It is 42% sugars, 21% complex carbohydrates and 11% fat by weight.[18][19]

Deep-fried Twinkie [edit]

A deep-fried Twinkie

A deep-fried Twinkie involves freezing the cake, dipping it into batter, and deep-frying it to create a variation on the traditional snack cake. It was described by a story in The New York Times in this way: "Something magical occurs when the pastry hits the hot oil. The creamy white vegetable shortening filling liquefies, impregnating the sponge cake with its luscious vanilla flavor... The cake itself softens and warms, nearly melting, contrasting with the crisp, deep-fried crust in a buttery and suave way. The pièce de résistance, however, is a ruby-hued berry sauce, adding a tart sophistication to all that airy sugary goodness".[20] The Texas State Fair had introduced the fried Twinkie to great popular acclaim, and the notion spread to other state fairs across the U.S., as well as some establishments that specialize in fried foods.[21] Fried Twinkies are sold throughout the U.S. in fairs as well as ball games, and in various restaurants.

Cultural references [edit]

Twinkie defense [edit]

Main article: Twinkie defense

The Twinkie defense is a derogatory term for a criminal defendant's claim that some unusual factor (such as allergies, coffee, nicotine, or sugar) diminished the defendant's responsibility for the alleged crime. The term arose from Herb Caen's description of the trial of Dan White, who was convicted in the fatal shootings of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city supervisor Harvey Milk. During the trial, psychiatrist Martin Blinder testified that White had suffered from depression, causing diminished capacity. As an example of this, he mentioned that White, formerly a health food advocate, had begun eating junk food.[5]

Shelf life [edit]

A common urban legend claims that Twinkies have an infinite shelf life or can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to the chemicals used in their production.[22] This urban legend is false, although Twinkies can last a relatively long time (25 days or more) because they are made without unstabilized dairy products and thus spoil more slowly than most bakery items.[23] In reality, Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time; a company executive told the New York Times in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."[24]

In the 2012 film Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the character Blackout has the power to decay anything he touches. When going through a lunch he causes a sandwich and an apple to decay in seconds, then is impressed when he is unable to cause a Twinkie inside the lunch to decay.

In the 2008 film WALL-E, a Twinkie is sighted completely undecayed in its wrapper on WALL-E's truck 700 years after the Earth was rendered largely uninhabitable for organic life forms.

The plot of Family Guy's second season episode titled "Da Boom" has the Griffin family walking to a Twinkie factory in Natick, Massachusetts and creating a new civilization there after society is decimated by a nuclear bomb from the Y2K bug; the joke being Twinkies will be the only food left after a nuclear holocaust.

Conversely, the 2009 film, Zombieland depicts one of the main characters "Tallahassee", played by actor Woody Harrelson on a quest to locate Twinkies, asserting that they do have an expiration date.

The 1988 film, Die Hard has John McClane almost becoming sick after eating a "thousand year old Twinkie" found in an under-construction floor of the Nakatomi Plaza building.

Twinkie diet [edit]

In 2010, Kansas State University professor Mark Haub went on a "convenience store" diet consisting mainly of Twinkies, Oreos, and Doritos in an attempt to demonstrate to his students "that in weight loss, pure calorie counting is what matters most—not the nutritional value of the food". He lost 27 pounds over a 2-month period, returning his body mass index (BMI) to within normal range.[25][26]

See also [edit]

Portal icon Food portal

Literature [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Twinkies-ovens-will-fire-up-in-4-plants-refilling-shelves.html?pagenum=full. Retrieved 15 May 2013.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ^ Marotte, Bertrand (2012-11-16). "As Hostess winds up, who will bite on Twinkies?". The Globe and Mail. 
  3. ^ "Twinkie the Kid Is Alive and Well and Living in Canada". Geekosystem.com. 2012-11-16. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  4. ^ Biemer, John (April 30, 2006). "Homeowner Discovers That Mr. Twinkie Slept There". U-T San Diego. Retrieved June 5, 2011. 
  5. ^ a b Belcher, Jerry (June 3, 1985). "Man Who Concocted the Twinkie Dies : James A. Dewar's Treat Is Part of America's Diet and Folklore". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2011-08-03. "It was Dewar's inspiration to fill the cakes with a sugar-cream mixture, the formula for which is still a tightly held secret." 
  6. ^ a b c d Ovide, Shira (September 2, 2011). "Great Moments in Twinkies History". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved January 10, 2011. 
  7. ^ "The History of the Hostess Twinkie". Kitchenproject.com. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  8. ^ Continental Baking Company (1988). "Fruit and Cream Twinkies commercial". Continental Baking Company. Retrieved 2011-03-08. 
  9. ^ Shepherd, Lauren (June 13, 2007). "Hostess selling banana-creme Twinkies". USA Today. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  10. ^ Knipp, Christopher. "City of Saginaw, Michigan; Nocite of Chapter 11". Hostess Brands, LLC. Retrieved November 17, 2012. 
  11. ^ Erik_Halvorson, Blynn Austin. "Hostess Brands is closed; HOSTESS BRANDS TO WIND DOWN COMPANY AFTER BCTGM UNION STRIKE CRIPPLES OPERATIONS". Hostess Brands, LLC. Media_Division. Retrieved November 16, 2012. 
  12. ^ "Twinkie maker Hostess to ‘immediately’ fire 15,000 workers as liquidation approved". Business.financialpost.com. Retrieved 2013-01-14. 
  13. ^ Chris Isidore (March 13, 2013). "Twinkies due on shelves by summer as $410 million bid OK'd". CNNMoney. 
  14. ^ Mark Lacter (March 12, 2013). "Hooray, Twinkies are coming back". LA Observed. 
  15. ^ "Twinkies (the real ones) back on store shelves in July". NBC News. Retrieved 25 April 2013. 
  16. ^ http://www.donatwinkiesaunamericano.org/desktop/index.html
  17. ^ Twinkies. h2g2.[unreliable source?]
  18. ^ Calories in Twinkies. About.com.
  19. ^ "Twinkies Nutrition - Livestrong". 
  20. ^ "Fry That Twinkie, But Hold the Chips". The New York Times. May 15, 2002. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  21. ^ "New junk food fad: Deep-fried Twinkies". CNN. September 18, 2002. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  22. ^ "Forever Twinkies". Snopes – Urban Legends Reference Pages. May 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  23. ^ Sagon, Candy (April 13, 2005). "Twinkies, 75 Years And Counting". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  24. ^ Kelley, Tina (March 23, 2000). "Twinkie Strike Afflicts Fans With Snack Famine". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-02-10. 
  25. ^ Park, Madison (November 8, 2010). "Twinkie diet helps nutrition professor lose 27 pounds". CNN. Retrieved 2011-08-30. 
  26. ^ "Exclusive Interview with Prof. Mark Haub". evilcyber.com. Retrieved 2013-03-02. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Twinkies
Hostess-Cupcake-Whole.jpg
Deep-fried foods
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twinkie&oldid=555719988"