THE FILLINGGood thing we haven't actually eaten one of these things since the Nixon administration. Yes, we're exaggerating. No, we were not alive.—MEGHANN MARCO• Shortening (in the form of partially hydrogenated vegetable oil and/or beef fat) is the main ingredient.
• Polysorbate 60 is a gooey substance that helps replace cream and eggs at a fraction of the cost. It's derived from corn, palm oil and petroleum.• Cellulose gum gives the cr me filling a smooth, slippery feel.
• Artificial vanillin is synthesized in petrochemical plants. The real thing comes from finicky tropical orchids that are pollinated by hand on the one day they bloom.
Twinkies [Newsweek]
]]>FYI, I got tired of reading without understanding what all that stuff on the ingredient list was, and decided to track all those things back down to where they come out of the ground. I'm a befuddled consumer, and like to get defuddled from time to time (usually resulting in a book---I've written seven).
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Artificial vanillin would be a substance other than vanillin that also gives a vanilla taste.
(Think "artificial sweeteners" =/= sugar.)
Synthetic vanillin is the exact same chemical that is extracted from the vanilla bean, but it is *synthesized* in a lab, making it more economical to produce and probably purer.
]]>That's just disgusting. No wonder the mere sight/smell of Twinkies makes me gag.
]]>But really, twinkies rock.
]]>If you recall Carl Otis Winslow (Reginald VelJohnson) of the Family Matters sitcom read off the Twinkies ingredients to Mr. John McClane (Bruce Willis).
Sorry, I'm off to get a box of Twinkies and rent Die Hard again!
Ho Ho Ho!
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Plus, at least half of my soup and sauce recipes call for corn starch.
But it is neat seeing that so much of a Twinkie is petroleum refined.
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