Deconstructing Twinkies: What's in those Things? - <i>A Book Review</i>
- by Michael Stillman
Author Steve Ettlinger deconstructs the Twinkie.
By Michael Stillman
A recently released book -- Twinkie Deconstructed, by Steve Ettlinger -- will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Twinkies, those iconic symbols of modern, prepackaged "food." Well, not quite everything. The one element missing is the answer to the most important question of all -- can I safely eat these things? This most elemental question is one Ettlinger leaves for you to decide.
Perhaps this is not what you would expect. With a title like that, you figure the author's intent is to convince you never to let one of them near your lips again. Its ingredients sound more like those of the chemistry set you had as a child than food. It was perhaps this assumption that led baker Hostess™ not to cooperate with this book. That was a mistake. Ettlinger is fair and factual, more interested in informing than proselytizing. His goal is simply to tell you what is in them (all 39 ingredients), where they come from, and how they are made. From the start, he notes that this is not really about Twinkies anyway. It is about all of our processed foods, which is much if not the majority of what most of us eat. Twinkies, because they are so iconic, was selected for his study, but if you come away believing that Twinkies should not be eaten, you better be prepared to drop just about everything else you don't buy fresh at the local farmers' market as well.
Ettlinger's book is really a tour. He looks at the list of ingredients, explains how they are made, and then goes on the road to visit the plants where they are produced. Some welcome him. Others close their doors. Still, he is able to provide us with a non-technical explanation of what goes on behind the scenes. If there is a weakness to this book, it's that there are so many ingredients, produced in similar ways in huge plants, that it tends to feel a bit repetitive after awhile.
Why so many ingredients? Each one has its own purpose, though many perform similar functions in different ways. Most eventually come back to the one important factor that was not an issue for your grandmother when she baked a cake -- shelf life. Grandma's cake was eaten within a day or two after it was baked, likely in the very same kitchen. Twinkies must survive for 25 days and hundreds if not thousands of miles on the road. And, after all that, they must taste, look and feel exactly as they did when they first came out of the oven. That is a major challenge.
The first issues that come to mind for 25 days of shelf life are spoilage and staleness. But, it's even more difficult than just this. For example, Twinkies have a "creme" (not to be confused with cream) filling, surrounded by a firm cake. Naturally, you would expect moisture from the "creme" to escape to surrounding cake, making it unappealingly soggy. This is unacceptable, even after 25 days. So modified cornstarch, one of those "what's this?" ingredients is added. Now some people may become uneasy when they discover that sulfuric or hydrochloric acid, which could dissolve metal, is used to "modify" this natural ingredient. Grandma didn't use it, but her cake never lasted long enough for weeping to become a problem.
Heritage, Dec. 15: Jerry Thomas. How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon-Vivant's Companion, Containing Clear and Reliable Directions for Mixing All the Beverages Used in the United States…
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Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("Martinus Luther") to His Friend the Theologian Gerhard Wiskamp ("Gerardo Xantho Lampadario"). $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: An Exceptionally Fine Copy of Austenís Emma: A Novel in Three Volumes. $40,000 - $60,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Presentation Copy of Ernest Hemmingwayís A Farewell to Arms for Edward Titus of the Black Mankin Press. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript Signed Integrally for "The Songs of Pooh," by Alan Alexander. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Manuscript of "Three Fragments from Gˆtterd‰mmerung" by Richard Wagner. $30,000 - $50,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Preliminary Artwork, for the First Edition of Snow Crash. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("T.R. Malthus") to Economist Nassau Senior on Wealth, Labor and Adam Smith. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides Finely Bound by Michael Wilcox. $20,000 - $30,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: First Edition of Lewis and Clark: Travels to the Source of the Missouri River and Across the American Continent to the Pacific Ocean. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Original Artwork for the First Edition of Neal Stephenson's Groundbreaking Novel Snow Crash. $100,000 - $150,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: A Complete Set Signed Deluxe Editions of King's The Dark Tower Series by Stephen King. $8,000 - $12,000.
Bonhams, Dec. 8-18: Autograph Letter Signed ("John Adams") to James Le Ray de Chaumont During the Crucial Years of the Revolutionary War. $8,000 - $12,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Francesco Colonna. Hypnerotomachie, Paris, 1546, Parisian calf by Wotton Binder C for Marcus Fugger. €200,000 to €300,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Nausea. De principiis dialectices Gorgias, and other works, Venice, 1523, morocco gilt for Cardinal Campeggio. €3,000 to €4,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 17: Billon. Le fort inexpugnable de l'honneur, Paris, 1555, Parisian calf gilt for Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld. €120,000 to €180,000.
Sotheby’s Book Week December 9-17, 2025
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Salinger, J.D. The Graham Family archive, including autographed letters, an inscribed Catcher, a rare studio photograph of the author, and more. $120,000 to $180,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of Sense and Sensibility, the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.
Sotheby’s, Dec. 16: Massachusetts General Court. A powerful precursor to the Declaration of Independence: "every Act of Government … without the Consent of the People, is … Tyranny." $40,000 to $60,000.
![<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/8caddaea-4c1f-47a7-9455-62f53af36e3f.jpg "<b>Heritage, Dec. 15:</b> John Donne. <i>Poems, By J. D. With Elegies on the Author's Death.</i> London: M[iles]. F[lesher]. for John Marriot, 1633.")
![<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/9a74d9ff-42dd-46a1-8bb2-b636c4cec796.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Dec. 16:</b> [Austen, Jane]. A handsome first edition of <i>Sense and Sensibility,</i> the author's first novel. $60,000 to $80,000.")
