Hostess Twinkie: R.I.P. Funeral
Original Picture is from Facebook via:
Original Picture is from Facebook via:
The Twinkie is an
American snack cake that was made and distributed by Hostess Brands. They were
marketed as a "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling".
On November 16,
2012, production of the product ceased after the company's announcement that it
would cease operations, pending liquidation.
Twinkies were
invented in Schiller Park, Illinois in 1930 by James Alexander Dewar, a baker
for the Continental Baking Company.[2] 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.[3] He said he came up with the name when he saw a billboard in St.
Louis for "Twinkle Toe Shoes".[4] 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.[5] In 1988, Fruit and Cream
Twinkies were introduced with a strawberry filling swirled into the cream.
However, the product was soon dropped.[6] 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 permanently restored the banana-cream Twinkie to its snack
lineup.[7]
In January 2012,
Twinkie manufacturer Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[4]
Twinkie sales for the year ended December 25, 2011 were 36 million packages,
down almost 2% from a year earlier.[4] Hostess said customers have migrated to
healthier foods.[4] In November 2012, Hostess announced that is was ceasing
production of all its products and liquidating all assets, but it hopes to be
able to sell its more popular brands to other manufacturers.[1]
Twinkies are still
produced in Canada by Saputo Incorporated's Vachon Inc., which owns the
Canadian rights for the product from Hostess and not effected by the actions
state side.[8]
Ingredients
Enriched wheat
flour, sugar, corn syrup, niacin, water, high fructose corn syrup, vegetable
and/or animal 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 #5, red #40. -Wikipedia
