Twinkie, Deconstructed

When I first ran across this book I was a little hesitant to pick it up. For in my youth, long past, I loved Twinkies, I mean I loved Twinkies. Once I even planned the meals for a week long scouting trip around a diet consisting of Tiger Tails (Twinkies with red strips and a coconut dusting) and Twinkies. While all of the scouts and leaders survived months pasted before I ate another Twinkie. So while my monthly consumption of Twinkies has greatly diminished I hesitated to read something that would cause me to completely eliminate them from my diet.

I think that you will really enjoy this book however. Each chapter explores the individual ingredients in a Twinkie, in the same order as on a Twinkie package.

From the Publisher Hudson Street Press of the Penguin Group (USA) Inc. website:

A pop-science journey into the surprising ingredients found in dozens of common packaged foods, using the Twinkie label as a guide.

Like most Americans, Steve Ettlinger eats processed foods. And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label - without a clue as to what most of it means. So when his young daughter asked, "Daddy, what's polysorbate 60?" he was at a loss - and determined to find out.

From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients - where they come from, how they are made, how they are used - and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they're often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name - all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake.

An insightful exploration into the food industry, if you've ever wondered what you're eating when you consume foods containing mono- and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (the latter, a food -grade equivalent) this book is for you. It will give you insight and meaning every time you read an food label, any label.

Read more: Authors website TWINKIE, DECONSTRUCTED: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats