Filed under: Food + Health, Society + Media | Tags: food, ingredients, preservatives, twinkies
Reading about Steve Ettlinger’s investigation into the ingredients of Twinkies told me I currently have a chemical half-life of about 2 billion years. Now, I am left with one question:
Who cares?
I don’t mean that in the cynical, indifferent tone it’s usually delivered with. I mean, quite literally, who cares.
I know who should care about what goes into the food they eat. It should be everyone. That the ingredients in most foods on American (and the world’s) grocery shelves are the same materials that make disinfectant and weedkiller, is absolutely terrifying. It should motivate everyone to take a closer look at what they’re putting in their mouths.
I know who does care. It’s the people who pay attention to their surroundings, who care what their food is made of and where it comes from, and who remain, sadly, the minority.
The fact of the matter is, most Americans probably don’t care. Look at movies like Super Size Me, Thank You for Smoking, An Inconvenient Truth. Those movies delivered important messages about the world we live in, but how were they met?
With indifference. Sure, some people said they’d eat a few less Big Macs. Some tried recycling for a while. But it doesn’t last. Not if the changes take sacrifice.
I know I sound pessimistic, but I don’t think anybody, not in America, not in the world, cares about what goes into the food they eat. At least not enough people to create a market change.
The guy drags on for a while, but just wait until after he tries the 3-year-old Twinkie.
-Aly
Thanks to HoustonPress blogs for the picture of Twinkie the Kid.
Thanks to YouTube for the video.
I have memories of visiting the Hostess Cakes store when I was younger. Cupcakes, twinkies and other desserts — packaged in plastic and in a chipboard box for good measure — lined the shelves.
Back then, I didn’t think much about what a bite of a 99-cent cake product really entailed for my body. But for his book, Twinkie, Deconstructed, Steve Ettlinger investigated each of the twinkie’s 39 ingredients.
Little did I know, one ingredient is thiamine mononitrate — which comes from Chinese petroleum. Can you imagine the cartoon children in the commercial below saying, “Mmmm, thiamine mononitrate!”? Not only am I disgusted by what my body must go through after digesting a twinkie, I’m disgusted that an ingredient needs to be imported more than 6,000 miles to create it.
Not to mention that only 1% of imported grocery items and food ingredients are checked by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. How can Americans feel confident about their buying habits if their government probably isn’t either?
Although a college student’s budget is sometimes lacking, I try to be a little more selective about what I eat these days. I bake and cook at home way more than I ever used to, and I try to buy local and organic whenever I can. Anything that involves ingredients to allow its shelf life to last 28 days is probably out of the question. And if memories of countless shelves full of chocolate- and vanilla-flavored packaged desserts ever leads to a craving — rest assured there is probably a much healthier and appetizing alternative.
— Jessica Sain-Baird
Thanks to YouTube for the video.
Filed under: Food + Health, Society + Media | Tags: food additives, petroleum, Twinkie Deconstructed
Reading about Steve Ettlinger’s discoveries for “Twinkie, Deconstructed” was like watching a horror flick. I wanted to stop reading, look away from the screen and yet I couldn’t. The industrial uses for common food additives are terrifying. If ingredients can strip concrete floors (citric acid) and kill plant life (ferrous sulfate), what will they do to my intestines?
And even though I can’t remember the last time I consumed a Twinkie, I do have a thing for chocolate covered pretzels. I’m sure those little suckers are ripe with intestine-hating chemicals. The idea that we consume derivatives of petroleum, sorbic acid, is the hardest for me to digest. I realize there are many uses of petroleum, but the word conjures images of Hexxus, the evil oil slick in FernGully. I hate that guy.
If people had a better grasp of what they put in their mouths I think they would make some changes. But people won’t empty their kitchens and start anew with only local and organic products. It just isn’t realistic. I’m really curious how much more it would cost to recreate the original 1930s recipe for the Twinkie, the one with a 2-3 day shelf life.
In this case, ignorance is not bliss. Especially when your beloved pet or child dies from consuming tainted food products. My intestines hold no sanctuary for Hexxus.
Growing up, my mom made just about everything from scratch, especially desserts. She knew it was better for us and it cost a lot less than packaged goods. It was a great way to growup, I will always appreciate that my mom made the extra effort. I just wish I had picked up on some of her baking skills.
- Mackenzie
Thanks to youtube for the video.
