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Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats

by Steve Ettlinger (Goodreads Author)

3.33 · Rating Details · 1,948 Ratings · 339 Reviews

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 a

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Hardcover, 282 pages

Published March 1st 2007 by Hudson Street Press (first published 2007)

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Community Reviews

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Nov 13, 2014 Petra Eggs rated it really liked it

Recommended to Petra Eggs by: Nenia *the flagrant liberal* Campbell

Shelves: popculture-anthropology, cookery-food-diet, 2014-read, 2014-reviews, reviewed

It strikes me that Twinkies are a bit like those oil-paintings that are really prints printed onto canvas and then framed. It might look like the Mona Lisa, but it is far, far from that, but it does look 'real'.

So I finished the book and I am left with the feeling of great awe of how much goes into a Twinkie, from minerals that have to be mined to mega-processed real eggs, but mostly non-food items or ones, like the eggs so mixed, mashed and adulterated they scarcely qualify for the word 'real'. It strikes me that Twinkies are a bit like those oil-paintings that are really prints printed onto canvas and then framed. It might look like the Mona Lisa, but it is far, far from that, but it does look 'real'.

So I finished the book and I am left with the feeling of great awe of how much goes into a Twinkie, from minerals that have to be mined to mega-processed real eggs, but mostly non-food items or ones, like the eggs so mixed, mashed and adulterated they scarcely qualify for the word 'real'. I think the whole world would be better off buying from the local bakery that uses only a few non-traditional ingredients (preservatives). Better still, buy from local bakeries where only the bought-in flour is likely to have any ingredients you wouldn't have in the house when you have a baking session. We know that home-made biscuits, cakes, cookies and other tarts taste better home-made, we also know they aren't exactly in the five food groups and good for us, so better to limit the amount you eat but buy high quality or bake yourself and give up these wretched imitations of food.

The book is well-written and exhaustively researched. A labour of obsession more than love methinks!

(view spoiler)

Book finished 22 November 2014. ...more

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May 05, 2008 thefourthvine rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction

The idea here is fascinating - a close look at the way our highly-processed food is made. Unfortunately, the concept is way better than the execution.

Ettlinger isn't much of a writer; he doesn't manage a consistent or engaging narrative voice, he neglects to look at either the bigger picture or the human stories around him, and he doesn't organize or tie his information together very well. The result is like a very long research report written by a tenth grader.

Also, Ettlinger doesn't appear to ...more

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Apr 27, 2007 Liza H rated it liked it

Recommends it for: Anyone interested in what goes into their food

Shelves: done, librarybooks

Consider the Twinkie...
A popular food item, first introduced to the public in the 1930's, which now represents a vast example of how ingredients have changed over the years to meet consumer demand. Honestly, I'd never really thought about it before... that long list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals on the packages of my snack cakes never bothered me. But reading this book not only opened my eyes to what, exactly goes into this innocent-seeming treat, but also how incredibly complex and vast and in Consider the Twinkie...
A popular food item, first introduced to the public in the 1930's, which now represents a vast example of how ingredients have changed over the years to meet consumer demand. Honestly, I'd never really thought about it before... that long list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals on the packages of my snack cakes never bothered me. But reading this book not only opened my eyes to what, exactly goes into this innocent-seeming treat, but also how incredibly complex and vast and intricate the entire food industry in America IS. It's shocking to find out how much of our food additives come from products that were once thought to be useless by-products of steel manufacturing. And oil. SO much stuff comes from oil!! Food stuff, concrete, plastic (of course), stuff that goes into our shampoo and soap and toothpaste... it's amazing to discover the origins of all of these things, the intricate web of relationships between manufacturing and food products. I know people who won't eat Twinkies because "they're made from nothing but chemicals" but honestly, MOST of the food we buy and eat contain quite a few of these same chemicals... it just goes to show that many consumers don't REALLY know what they're eating anymore. I mean, if something you wanted to eat had an ingredients list like this: hydrogen oxide, cellulose, hemicellulose, malic acid, dexrose, fructose, pectin, sucrose, amylacetate, and citric acid... would you eat it? No? Not natural enough for you? Not healthy?

Do you realize the above is the ingredients list for an apple?

Anyway, the point of this book was certainly not to tell everyone that Twinkies are just as healthy and natural as apples; it's true purpose was simply to explore WHERE these chemicals that are contained in most food items on our shelves today come from, how they are made, and what it means in terms of the advancement of making better, tastier foods with longer shelf lives. It's astounding how much goes into something as innocuous-seeming as a Twinkie. I'm glad I read this book; it was well-written and informative and even funny at times. I'd love to see it made into a Discovery-Channel-like documentary. ...more

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Oct 14, 2007 John rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: anyone fascinated by what we eat

YUK!

Twinkie Deconstructed takes us on a journey through the ingredient label of the popular snack food to find out what "polysorbate 80" and "bleached flour" really are. Whether its manufactured, mined (yes mined), or put together in a laboratory, we discover what goes into the Twinkie, and a great many of the items on our store shelves.

Most interesting, and perhaps most frightening, was the process of bleaching flour.

Fascinating, yes. Inspiring, well, if heading off to Whole Foods to buy real ...more

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May 31, 2009 David rated it it was ok

Do you know what's REALLY in YOUR snack foods? This book might lead you to expect a modern-day Fast Food Nation or the Jungle, but it's actually a lightweight tour of American food processing that at times almost crosses the line into free advertising. To its credit, you learn a great deal about the brain-busting scope of the food industry, how a single, simple product like a Twinkie depends upon everything from chemical plants in Minnesota to mineral mines in China, and the facts about baking w ...more

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Jan 09, 2014 Wealhtheow rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, food

Ettlinger takes us through each of the ingredients that make up a Twinkie, most of which are found in other packaged food as well. It is stupefyingly boring and utterly bloodless. (Only Ettlinger could write a chapter about industrial eggs and never mention the conditions of factory farm chickens.) He also doesn't seem to have a very solid grasp on the science--his explanations are obtuse and often depend on forced metaphors. His explanation of trans-fat was sadly mistaken and managed to witter ...more

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Feb 16, 2009 Jenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nonfiction-read

Ooh, wow! What an amazing read. This is not an expose of the food industry, but rather a curious exploration of what twinkies are made of. So each chapter tells the story of a different ingredient on the list. He'll visit the mine it comes from, or follow how a food product is converted from petroleum, or whatever. I was intrigued by the chapter on flavors, and colors. Absolutely fascinating, and makes me wanna eat nothing but veggies. Cuz as he points out, "Eat your own vegetables and fruits ra Ooh, wow! What an amazing read. This is not an expose of the food industry, but rather a curious exploration of what twinkies are made of. So each chapter tells the story of a different ingredient on the list. He'll visit the mine it comes from, or follow how a food product is converted from petroleum, or whatever. I was intrigued by the chapter on flavors, and colors. Absolutely fascinating, and makes me wanna eat nothing but veggies. Cuz as he points out, "Eat your own vegetables and fruits raw, and you've reduced "processing" to washing" (p 2).

And who knew Mom was there in Iowa when corn syrup began: "the Clinton Corn Processing Company, where high fructose corn syrup was first mass-produced in 1967" (p 56). I also was unaware that the American Chemical Society designates sites as National Historic Chemical Landmarks (e.g. the Rumford Chemical Works, of Baking Powder fame, p 138). Other interesting info:

--"In the 1950s, soda was sold in 6.5- or 8-ounce bottles (containing 88 to 100 calories per serving) as an occasional refreshment; today, it is regularly served in 20-ounce bottles (at 240 calories a pop) and sometimes even 64-ounce servings (what does Coca-Cola expect you to put into its Monster Mug--milk?). More important, today, soft drinks are far more often consumed as a common, mealtime beverage, than as a special treat." (p 69)

--"Scientists know where to look (the liver and the pancreas, for starters) but here in the early 200s, after thirty years of common use, the proper broad and long-term studies about the effects of HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup) still aren't being done." (p 70)

--In reference to food colorings, "Their function is essentially a psychological one." (p 249)

--How about the meaning of the numbers in Yellow No. 5 or Red No. 40? "It took some digging to reveal that the numbers signify nothing more than the order in which manufacturers submitted the artificial colors to the FDA for approval... missing numbers are for colors approved only for nonfood use... some were approved and never used; and some may not have been approved at all." (p 253)

But it all comes back to us, the consumers: "These companies' embrace of science is simply limited by their obedience to the marketplace and governmental policies... we love the results and express this feeling unequivocally with our purchasing power, enthusiastically demanding more protein sources, a wider range of food choices, lower prices, presumably safer and less spoiled food... The fact is that chemicals, especially those in foods, are part of nature. Perhaps a pertinent question is, "When does a chemical become a food?"" (p 258)

...more

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Jan 08, 2014 Sarenna rated it it was ok

Shelves: non-fiction, food

I wanted to like this because I find the subject matter fascinating. And appalling. When you think about what's in the food we eat, it's just gross beyond words. You know what they say, ignorance is bliss. And apparently it's also tasty.

But in this case, it wasn't very readable. I struggled to read this book. I thought maybe it was just me. Maybe it was too technical for me. I consider myself above average as far as intelligence. Somewhat science-y (obviously language isn't my thing since I like ...more

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Sep 09, 2009 Christine Henry rated it liked it

Though this book has an intriguing premise, to trace the progress of each and every ingredient in a common processed food, the twinkie, I found that the story lacked cohesion. The author goes on a number of spectacular journeys to find how ingredients are created from raw materials, and then how those are combined to make the familar snack, but there is little besides the ingredients list tying the story line together. The book however was packed with factoids like how artificial dyes are create ...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Ross rated it it was ok

Shelves: stopped-midway, food-politics

Yes, Twinkies are uber-iconic. Still, the idea of a chapter for each ingredient in the Twinkie just doesn't sustain a book. There is no narrative arc, and the ingredients just aren't all equally interesting. Michael Pollan does a much better job of explaining the worrisome rise of high-fructose corn syrup. Finally, Ettlinger's writing is just too cutesy and filled with parenthetics for my taste. I am tempted to say that the book is as substantive as a Twinkie. But I didn't finish it, so I can't ...more

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Aug 07, 2010 Jeremy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Now I know what's in a twinkie. And you know what? It made me really want a twinkie.

Now I know what FD&C Yellow No. 5 is and what it does, and what emulsifyers and shortening and leavening agents are and do. Basically what it comes down to: Twinkies don't have eggs or milk or cream in any of those conventional senses, so they need a bunch of stuff that does the things that those things do. These are the chemicals added in minute amounts that you see on the product label. Polysorbate 60? I kn Now I know what's in a twinkie. And you know what? It made me really want a twinkie.

Now I know what FD&C Yellow No. 5 is and what it does, and what emulsifyers and shortening and leavening agents are and do. Basically what it comes down to: Twinkies don't have eggs or milk or cream in any of those conventional senses, so they need a bunch of stuff that does the things that those things do. These are the chemicals added in minute amounts that you see on the product label. Polysorbate 60? I know what that is now. And there is only one 'preservative', the highly innocuous Sorbic Acid.

Ettlinger's scope is not broad or deep, but he manages to do justice to the Twinkie instead of just vilifying it offhand as the symbol of all processed (=bad) food. Sure, he sounds a little naive when he talks about big industry and production processes and chemistry that he really doesn't understand (he doesn't claim to; nor is he ever shown the 'full' picture for proprietary reasons).

It is a nice counter-point to the highly charged debate of 'local agriculture' (=good) vs. agrobusiness (=bad) that is becoming more and more politicized (and shrill). He just says 'this is what's in a twinkie and this is how it's made (or distilled or mined)' and then he lets us make up our own dang minds about it. I respect that.

One thing I came away with was the shocking realization that petroleum is the starting point for many of the additives that go into processed foods. There is figuratively (not literally) oil in your twinkies. That should be a sobering thought, given that even our food manufacturing process is highly dependent upon oil (much of which is foreign).

So yeah, I think we should buy locally, eat less meat (and less in general), and watch our calories. The business of food processing companies from corn to chemicals is to get us to consume more. All you have to do is say 'not so much, please'. Look, it's not going to kill you to eat a Twinkie, just as it won't kill you to eat a slice of cake every once in awhile. But in each case you should know what it's made of and where it comes from and for that, I'm grateful for Ettlinger's game attempt at telling us where processed food comes from and where it goes. ...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Johanne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: nutrition, health-well-being

Everyday we eat a gazillion processed food, and yet, who can pronounce all those fancy name on the ingredient list, let alone explain where they come from?

What's polysorbate 60, anyway?

In this book, Ettlinger took one of the most quintessential North American snacks, the Twinkie, and, well, deconstructed it. Ingredient by ingredient. Including water (yes, there's a chapter on water!)

By reading this book, you won't become completely grossed out by processed food, nor will you feel you need to sta Everyday we eat a gazillion processed food, and yet, who can pronounce all those fancy name on the ingredient list, let alone explain where they come from?

What's polysorbate 60, anyway?

In this book, Ettlinger took one of the most quintessential North American snacks, the Twinkie, and, well, deconstructed it. Ingredient by ingredient. Including water (yes, there's a chapter on water!)

By reading this book, you won't become completely grossed out by processed food, nor will you feel you need to start a revolution and go back to growing your own stuff in your backyard, wheat, pig, and all. But you will know what you're eating. Some are good, some are bad, and some are middle ground. By like Ettlinger says in his final chapters, which nicely puts everything back into perspective, "reduced to the absurd: should the ingredient H2O scare us because it is often found mixed in with acids and poisons? [...] Isn't moving molecules around what you do when you fry an egg or bake a cake or even boil water?" (p. 261)

Of course, processed food ARE chemicals. And processed food will not always have all the nutriments you would find in natural food, yet alone be as healthy calorie/fat/everything wise. But once in awhile, it can be satisfying.

So if you like to know what you put in your mouth, then go ahead and read this book - it's actually pretty entertaining regardless of the all technical stuff it covers. You'll then be able to read an ingredient list and actually make more of a sense of what you see, as well as make slightly more informed choices when you buy your inevitable processed food. My only drawback with the book: a paragraph (or two) on the actual nutritional impact of the ingredients would have been nice. But at 263 pages, it already covers a lot, and if anything, it just gives you the motivation to dig deeper... now that you have a background into the subject, enough to guide any additional research, even if amateur!

And like Ettlinger said, "At least now you know what you're eating". (p. 263) ...more

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Oct 13, 2007 Sara rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: No one.

Shelves: food, science

I liked the premise of the book: unpack the contents of a normal Twinkie to figure out how ingredients are processed into a substance we call "food." The author does include some interesting information about how red dye comes from the bodies of tiny crushed insects and the strange chemical processes that go into Twinkie manufacture. But his writing style is dull and I wasn't quite sure what his point was. He didn't seem to be encouraging a return to real, whole food, even though his research an ...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Amanda J rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, food-diet-nutrition

The journey of processed food is equally amazing and frightening. The book examines not only how much we rely on these ingredients for convience, but also for safety. While we may be wary of these strange chemicals, they are often times what keeps the food shelf-stable.

If you are looking for a book that espouses all natural alternatives and healthy eating, this isn't for you. The author examines the food industry without discussing on whether ulitmately these ingredients have a positive or nega ...more

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Jun 28, 2009 Jonathan rated it it was ok

Shelves: food, science-nature

An interesting overview of the chemical processes that are involved in the making of a twinkie. Ettinger kept the technical aspects of twinkie-making easy enough for the layman to understand, but his sporadic attempts at humor throughout the book were a little thin. Although Ettlinger's book makes it obvious that a twinkie doesn't qualify as food in the strictest sense, he never offers up any comments on the health/environmental concerns that come with the manufacture and consumption of products ...more

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May 12, 2007 Michele Karmartsang rated it liked it

12/07 Very interesting, finding out where so many of our ingredients come from (mined, mostly!) but I found that all the chemicals and processes started to blend together after a while. If you asked me what/how polysorbate 60 comes from, I don't think I could tell you, despite having recently read about it. The author does do an excellent job of describing it all, and makes it very readable and entertaining...it was just a case of too much information going in on my part.

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Jun 07, 2010 Ellis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, nonfiction, health

I remember thinking that I would give this book 2 stars, but I don't really remember why. I don't like it when books (or other forms of media) sensationalize their subject matter to sell copies when the book doesn't actually support the exaggerated titles marketing tactics used. This book, like many others, is guilty of this. Still, this book gives an interesting look into the food chemistry of modern prepared foods.

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Jun 15, 2007 Nora Alfaham rated it really liked it

I did not get to finish this book because it was due to the library however it is pretty amazing in that it tells you EXACTLY where every ingredient in the Twinkie comes from. It makes it hard to eat that stuff afterwards but if you do choose to eat a Twinkie or the like, I believe you are englightened enough to make that decision. It gets a little dry at times, as it explains every single step of the process for all the ingredients.

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Feb 01, 2016 Delta rated it really liked it

Shelves: z2016

Wow. Not that I was a fan of Twinkies before, but now I will never be able to look at them the same way again. If you are a fan, I wouldn't recommend reading. In fact, if you like any sort of processed sweet I wouldn't recommend reading. Knowing that half of the ingredients are derived from things you would never want to eat will definitely change your perspective.

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Oct 27, 2013 Megan rated it did not like it

I can sum up every chapter I bothered to read: here's the ingredient. Here's what else it is used for. Aren't you horrified? Seems like the author learned just enough Chemistry to write the book. Yes chlorine gas will kill you. But you'd die if I removed all the NaCl from your body. Thus book would have been more interesting if he dropped the all chemicals are bad for you tone.

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Jan 28, 2008 Owen rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Everyone

Recommended to Owen by: Nobody

Lots and lots and lots and lots of ( )s
Very good book.Tell a lot about ingredients.

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Feb 27, 2011 Kay rated it liked it

Shelves: science, food_wine, commodity_history, nonfiction

Disturbing, on multiple levels

Publisher’s Weekly called this book a “Delightful romp though the food processing industry,” but I found Twinkie, Deconstucted a rather chilling appraisal of the state of modern food.

Ettlinger sets out on what seems a lighthearted quest to source all the ingredients in a Twinkie, on the face of it an interesting and possibly edifying task. Certainly, choosing a Twinkie as his subject is clue enough that this will be a purely wink-wink/nudge-nudge sort of examinati ...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Adam rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, environmental-history, food

Steve Ettlinger is not a brilliant journalist or prose writer. The book lacks a narrative, a perspective, or any sense of character. In addition, Ettlinger applies troublingly little critical analysis to a subject that offers a lot to critique. Worst of all, he bumbles into some astonishing chemistry mistakes (no Steve: palladium is NOT a form of platinum, etc). He also falls for the myth of consumer sovereignty throughout - whatever bad things the companies do or however bad their products migh Steve Ettlinger is not a brilliant journalist or prose writer. The book lacks a narrative, a perspective, or any sense of character. In addition, Ettlinger applies troublingly little critical analysis to a subject that offers a lot to critique. Worst of all, he bumbles into some astonishing chemistry mistakes (no Steve: palladium is NOT a form of platinum, etc). He also falls for the myth of consumer sovereignty throughout - whatever bad things the companies do or however bad their products might be for us, they only do what they do because we, the mighty all-powerful all-knowing consumer tell them to do. *Sigh*

That said, however, he has done a lot of research on the industrial food system, and this book was a great peek into the workings of that industry, accompanied by some interesting food and chemistry revelations.

Destroying nature's bounty or moving beyond her limits and making up the difference with destructive, extractive land uses is almost the foundation of civilization. So the industrial food system mapped by Ettlinger is the modern expression of that desire. It's not profitable to allow wheat to oxidize slowly over six months, so it's cheaper to crack salt apart and use the chlorine gas to bleach the wheat. That destroys the nutrients, so the FDA mandates manufacturers buy powdered vitamin supplements made from petrochemicals in China and India. And so on. The whole book is like that - real food is either too expensive or spoils too quickly, so companies extract a single chemical fraction of them or just replace the whole thing with a petrochemical derivative.

Capitalism seems to drive this process as fast as it has ever gone. Diminishing ecosystem services and setting up shop meeting that now-unfulfilled need is a great way to create markets and make money.

Ettlinger rightly points out that we shouldn't be afraid of Twinkies and their ilk because they are made of chemicals. Chemicals are what everything is made of, almost by definition. He lists the complete ingredients of an apple: hydrogen oxide, cellulose, hemicellulose, malic acid, dexrose, fructose, pectin, sucrose, amylacetate, and citric acid. Yet while this is an important and valid point, he never examines any of the other very, very salient reasons why people might object to Twinkies. For instance, sorbic acid from a mountain ash berry might be chemically identical to sorbic acid from petrochemical plants, but they are very much different as far as the climate is concerned. Ettlinger wrote this in 2007, but never does he make any indication he's heard there might be problems with a food system so incredibly dependent on hydrocarbons.

And while Twinkies aren't simply made from oil, the amount of petrochemicals involved in the Twinkie production cycle seem immense. Full petrochemical derivatives: All the B vitamins except riboflavin, artificial butter and vanilla flavors, sorbic acid, and the food dyes FD&C Yellow No. 5 and Red No. 40. Part oil derivative: sometimes the glycerin in mono and diglycerides, part of polysorbate 60. Processed with an oil derivative: soybean oil (dissolved in hexanes), ...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Emily rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, meridian

The Twinkie has been the butt of jokes, the drool-inducing heart's desire of children, and a sugary sweet bestselling snack for decades. This humble golden cake with creamy filling is Mr. Ettlinger's vehicle for exploring the modern food industry. “If you are what you eat,” he states, “it behooves you to know exactly what you are eating. Especially if you eat a lot of polysorbate 60, cellulose gum, and Red No. 40.”

Mr. Ettlinger orders the chapters of his book parallel to the ingredients label on The Twinkie has been the butt of jokes, the drool-inducing heart's desire of children, and a sugary sweet bestselling snack for decades. This humble golden cake with creamy filling is Mr. Ettlinger's vehicle for exploring the modern food industry. “If you are what you eat,” he states, “it behooves you to know exactly what you are eating. Especially if you eat a lot of polysorbate 60, cellulose gum, and Red No. 40.”

Mr. Ettlinger orders the chapters of his book parallel to the ingredients label on the Twinkie wrapper, starting with the most prominent ingredient, flour, and ending with the artificial colors FD&C Yellow No. 5, Red No. 40 at the end of the list. Flour actually fills three eye-opening chapters: one describes growing and milling the wheat, one explains the bleaching process, and the third itemizes the enrichment blend which adds nutrients back into the previously bleached product. Flour mills, Mr. Ettlinger discovers, represent the first fully automated manufacturing process in history, due partially to the explosive – yes, explosive – nature of flour dust.

I was also surprised to learn that sugar, the second ingredient listed on the Twinkie label, serves a greater purpose than simply providing the sweetness with which we are most familiar. According to Mr. Ettlinger, “sugar is a regular workhorse. It carries flavor, provides color, fosters tenderness, creates an even crumb, and retains some moisture in order to preserve shelf life, the holy grail of nearly every packaged food.” And here I thought it just made my three little boys bounce off the walls at bedtime. The difference between cane sugar and beet sugar is discussed and corn syrup, dextrose, glucose and high fructose corn syrup together get another two chapters in the book detailing their value not only in adding more sweetness, but also as bulking and browning agents.

My favorite, though, was the chapter on natural and artificial ingredients. Did you know the original flavor of the Twinkie filling was banana rather than today's vanilla? That all changed with the shortage of fresh tropical fruit during World War II. The chapter also included a fascinating look at the labor-intensive production of real vanilla and an equally fascinating look at the in-laboratory creation of vanillin, the “imitation” vanilla flavor.

As Mr. Ettlinger travels down the list, the ingredients become less recognizable and more unpronounceable (sodium stearoyl lactylate, anyone?). In fact, several of them seemed downright inedible considering their source (petroleum, iron, and limestone – yum!). Mr. Ettlinger does an impressive job of describing complex industrial and chemical processes in terms the reader can understand. Twinkie, Deconstructed provides an educational look at just what it is we're eating with all that fluffy golden goodness.

For more book reviews, come visit my blog, Build Enough Bookshelves. ...more

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Sep 19, 2016 Elizabeth rated it really liked it

Shelves: t

I don't eat Twinkies or anything like them, and haven't for years, and yet they fascinate me. This is an ingredient-by-ingredient breakdown of these iconic and highly artificial snacks. Somehow, the more the author walked me through the chemical processes by which Twinkie ingredients are created, the more benign these ingredients seemed, until I was lulled into a complacency about food I never feel when I'm actually choosing something to eat. And yet by the end, the author returned us to reality ...more

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May 02, 2013 Melissa rated it it was ok

Shelves: food, non-fiction

I just could not get into this book. And it's even in the genre I like, food history and information. And the twinkie? It's an icon!

Ettlinger is surprised when his daughter asks where an unpronounceable ingredient on a package of food comes from. He can't answer it, and that bothers him. So he decides to research it and other food additives. And he settles on the twinkie because it is an icon and has so many unusual ingredients on it. Researching these ingredients, he visits mines, plants, and m I just could not get into this book. And it's even in the genre I like, food history and information. And the twinkie? It's an icon!

Ettlinger is surprised when his daughter asks where an unpronounceable ingredient on a package of food comes from. He can't answer it, and that bothers him. So he decides to research it and other food additives. And he settles on the twinkie because it is an icon and has so many unusual ingredients on it. Researching these ingredients, he visits mines, plants, and many other places to find out where the twinkie had its ingredients sourced and how it was developed.

A lot of what he finds isn't actually that helpful as all too frequently it says he wasn't allowed in the plant or noone knew much about a certain ingredient or where it comes from. It certainly presents the industry as quite secretive. And he himself is rather waffly on the subject. I expected this to be against all the additives in the food, but Ettlinger's tone is actually admiring at points, which I thought strange considering some of the stuff he tells us in this book. But he was very sympathetic to the big food manufacturers and their weird food products.

I liked the premise of the book. Who wouldn't want to learn more about twinkies? But the carry through left a little to be desired. There was a lot of information, and I learned quite a bit I didn't know, but it was hard to get through. He welds his chapters together ok but the way the information was presented was so dry that I had a hard time being absorbed or focusing on the book. And as said before, the tone was different than I expected. You'll learn a lot about what kind of rocks go into your food (it's more than you think!) but in-depth research simply wasn't possible because of the industry secrets so there's nothing too big in it.

I like these types of books but not this one. I think there are better written books about the food industry out there (Pandora's Lunchbox).

Twinkie, Deconstructed
Copyright 2007
282 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com ...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Jane rated it liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, science, food, book-club

In Twinkie, Deconstructed, author Steve Ettlinger walks through all of the ingredients that go into the making of a Hostess Twinkie (or any similar) snack cake. As these ingredients are used in many other things as well, there is a lot of interesting, sometimes scary information about what we eat. There are also some fairly technical and scientific passages that I found hard to follow.

Twinkie, Deconstructed, while well written, was not what I expected. I expected a little more in the way of expo ...more

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May 28, 2013 Katie rated it liked it

Shelves: science-non-fiction, food

Given the nature of what a twinkie actually is, this book is, Not surprisingly, more chemistry than biology. It's also history, geography, lore, and social commentary. If that sounds like a lot for a 250 page book to be, it is. I like the premise, but it suffers from too much breadth and not enough depth. There was just too much, poorly organizzed and cursory information.

Still, the biology I did learn was fascinating. Did you know that vanilla beans are not actually beans? They are the flowers ...more

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May 23, 2008 Danielle rated it it was ok

Shelves: nutrition

As the ultimate in processed foods, the Twinkie was selected as the framework for a discussion on the origin and processing of food additives. The author, while shocked at some of the material he uncovers, does not condemn the additives; rather he pretty much defends them. He reports that the toxins involved are either miniscule, transformed, or removed, and therefore, should not be feared. He points out that most of these additives have been used for decades, although he does acknowledge that s ...more

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May 01, 2010 Rachel rated it it was ok

Recommended to Rachel by: shelfbrowsing at OPL

Shelves: reviewed, limbo, sjpl

I've started reading this book at least three times and never make it all the way through, and I think I've finally figured out why. The premise is intriguing enough -- as the subtitle says, "my journey to discover how the ingredients found in processed foods are grown, mined (yes, mined), and manipulated into what America eats," following the ingredient label on the paradigmatic processed food, the Twinkie. However, Ettlinger never manages to convince me of why I should CARE about his findings, ...more

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