Talk:Twinkie

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[edit] about the "urban legend" -Do they last forever?

A July 31st NY Times article, as well as an August 1st All Things Considered interview indicate that the extrememly long shelf life is not an urban myth. Retired professor Roger Bennatti kept an open Twinkie in his classroom for thirty years, and it shows no significant decomposition.

The question is not, "Does the fact that it hasn't decomposed mean it is still edible?" but is, in fact, "Would you eat it?" I rest my case. Alx xlA 05:54, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

I wondered the same thing. The first comment is useful, the second one is not. Is it true or an urban myth? Does anyone have any links or references to ad to this question? Frankly I am shocked that this is not at all mentioned in the article. --Jon in California 4 Jan 2008

[edit] Over the Hedge reference

Over the Hedge characters like RJ and Hammy favours Twinkies as their favorite food. That is mentioned a lot on the strip. Maybe that can be added on the trivia section...


Another, equal known use of the term describes a high-level character in an RPG (typically an MMORPG) who has a low-level, alternate character equipped exclusively from the high-level character's cash and/or equipment reserves.

I removed that because it has nothing to do with the twinkie junk food, it is related to TWEAK, as in, tweaking your character, "twinking" it, nothing to do with a fucking twinkie...


I'd like to see info added on the Banana Twinkie. NOT the banana FILLED twinkie, the Banan Twinkie that was/is available only on Hawaii. Banana Bread with the regular Hostess Filling. They are amazing, but there is VERY little on the web about them and they are getting harder and harder to find on the islands of Hawaii.

I just changed "food energy" back to "calories" in the Interesting Facts section. I think food energy is somewhat confusing here. While showing the equivalence of kinetic energy to food energy is important, I think an actual unit is more concrete. I assume the modifier was concerned with the use of calories as opposed to kilojoules or other energy units. If anyone agrees that this is a problem, feel free to revert and/or discuss.

If we follow the link to the Urban Legend we find it claims that what is written in the article was not true. Until further evidence is forthcoming I suggest we follow the UL site. DJ Clayworth 21:29, 20 Oct 2003 (UTC)

I agree, in the absence of any better evidence, Snopes seems a pretty reliable basis for correction. I'll alter it now. IMSoP 22:32, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Oops! We seem to have edited that page simultaneously. I've submitted my version in full, because I had made a few other changes as well, but feel free to edit it how you want. I do apologise for that. IMSoP 23:06, 20 Nov 2003 (UTC)

An anonymous user (24.2.86.81 - nice IP!) has changed "an extremely long shelf-life (estimated at two years)" to "an extremely long shelf-life (estimated at 25 days)" I've no idea which is nearer the truth, having never seen a Twinkie in my life, but since it's a rather drastic change, perhaps someone could check that - and perhaps clarify in the article who it is that's estimating, and what is meant by "shelf-life". Thanks - IMSoP 21:41, 25 Jan 2004 (UTC)

Apparently the anon was right: [1] I've updated the article. --Minesweeper 04:31, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] poorly written

Shouldn't the stuff about alternate uses of the word at least be put under a seperate heading? It really doesn't seem like it fits in with the rest of the stuff. Also, "no one really knows how they are made"? Really, NO ONE? Surely SOMEone knows how they're made. That paragraph also needs rewritten.

[edit] lack of dairy products

I have a box of twinkies right here, and it says it has whey in it, and also eggs. The long shelf life probably has more to do with preservatives and stabilizers than anything else.

Yes, one egg per 500 twinkies. See 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. Has anyone read this book and be willing to put some more facts into the article from it? I've just heard Ettlinger interviewed. —Pengo 23:37, 22 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Delisted GA

There are no references. slambo 10:35, 24 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] POV in Native American Slang section

The section about Native American slang is unreferenced. Also, it as biased, and needs to be wikified. I don't know the right way to approach this problem. If someone could help with this, that would be appriciated.--The ikiroid (talk/parler/hablar/paroli/说/話) 02:58, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Hopefully removed the bias, still needs a citation. 68.39.174.238 03:44, 7 April 2006 (UTC)
Looks pretty good. Thanks.--The ikiroid (talk/parler/hablar/paroli/说/話) 15:01, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nuclear Twinkie

I heard somewhere that the twinkie can survive a nuclear bomb? Anyone know if thats true?--Geppy 07:30, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

I doubt if one could survive the extreme heat and pressure generated by a nuclear explosion, anymore than most other matter. Try attaching one to a small firework and see what happens. Markb 12:22, 5 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] 145 Kilocalories?!

That's 483 times the caloric weight of a hamburger... in that little package! It sounds rather suspicious, doesn't it? =) Just fact-checking... Erm, my bad. I got confused... calorie vs. Calorie. Kareeser|Talk! 19:44, 31 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Banana filling

The original twinkie had banana filling, but they had to change it to vanilla due to shortages during WWII--this isn't even mentioned in the article. Shouldn't we have a history section? --Berserk798 01:12, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

It used to be there; was removed by an anon in this edit, claiming it was a hoax. However, it's there on the official Hostess history page:
The Twinkies' popularity skyrocketed and it soon became Hostess' best-selling snack cake. During World War II a banana ration caused Continental to switch to the vanilla crème center that is loved today.
Put it back in, with citation.  :) — Catherine\talk 02:30, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Unusual claim

Will likely delete this sentance from the article unless someone can cite a credible source: "A small group of eccentrics is convinced that the twinkies are brought to our planet by extraterrestrials, usually Greys." Arx Fortis 17:22, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Strawberries-n-cream-filled Twinkies?

I still need to do more research on when Hostess released the strawberries-n-cream version of the Twinkie. Few people seem to remember this one, but there seem to be several accounts throughout the web of people remembering these sometime during the 1980's. If anyone is able to find information on when this version of the Twinkie was released, and perhaps why it was discontinued, please add it to the article. Mantispid 13:17, 5 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Another meaning

The Friends episode The One Where Joey Moves Out depicts the relationship between an older man and a younger woman, and she is called a "twinkie" in a derogatory way by others (there is the exact quote in that article). I don't think this meaning has been covered yet. I'm not a native speaker, so I'm not sure about how popular that expression is.--134.130.4.46 09:37, 10 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Whole eggs

The ingredients say Twinkies contain whole eggs. They must be pretty small — I can't imagine anyone stuffing a chicken egg in one of them. — JeremyTalk 08:56, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Citation

I would like a citation on the twinkies produced per year. Also the James Dewar linked to is the scientist who died in 1923. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Niftymatt (talk • contribs) 14:45, November 16, 2006.

I changed James Dewar link to the disambiguation page; No article yet exists for James Dewar (baker). Arx Fortis 14:56, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Twinkie The Kid?

How is there a lengthy discussion of kind of obscure alternate/slang uses for "Twinkie", yet no mention of the famous mascot, "Twinkie the Kid"?

—Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.236.202.67 (talk) 14:42, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Twinkies measure...

" Twinkies measure 4" x 1" (10 cm x 2.5 cm)"...couldn't it be like "10 cm x 2.5 cm x 2.5 cm" or something 3-D? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 202.40.139.108 (talk) 15:52, 1 April 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Packages of two or three

They are also sold in packages of ten.Mr. Granger 17:30, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

The packages of ten come with individually wrapped twinkies, I think that's what it was getting at. Kiminatheguardian 22:09, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Price?

A question from an English guy - on average how much does a pack of 2 twinkies cost in America? --SirJibby 17:49, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

It's been a long time since I've purchased any, but as I recall, they come 10 to a box in the store. They are about $4.00 per box...so 40 cents each. ++Arx Fortis 05:17, 12 August 2007 (UTC)
A pack of two, however, is more expensive per twinkie. A pack of two is $1.50. Mr. Granger 01:48, 13 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of Name

The article currently has no information regarding where the Twinkie's name came from. The reason I mention this is that it just occured to me a few minutes ago that the first four letters in the name form the word "twin", and since they are traditionally sold in twin packs, I wonder if this has anything to do with the name. Having this revelation/theory at age 34 is startling, but now I'm really wondering. Any insight? - Ugliness Man 07:32, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Good catch! I wonder if it could be short for "Twin Cakes"? I'll try and do some research after the holiday:)--71.97.147.120 (talk) 18:46, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Junk Food"

While I agree that Twinkies are junk food, it may be a bit biased to have that in the article. Maybe "Many consider Twinkies to be junk food" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.147.58.6 (talk) 17:54, 26 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Banana Twinkies in Canada?"

Are the new Banana Twinkies available in Canada yet? I've looked everywhere for them, and so far I've been unsuccessful in my pursuit. A few stores I went into had never even heared of them. I'm located in Southern Ontario.

[edit] GLBT culture references??

How can an article about twinkie bars completely fail to reference Twink (gay slang)? I guess the latter needs to cite a decent reference about the source of the term twink, but it's been around for twenty odd years surely? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.12.191.234 (talk) 06:46, 1 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Corrected vandalism and added information regarding representation of product in Latin America

I stumbled across this page and found it vandalised regarding this product giving Mexican children diabetes and reading this page allowing the devil to coerce people into eating Twinkies and contracting this disease. I deleted that portion and corrected it by also adding that the "Bimbo" brand does distribute twinkies in Mexico under the name "Submarinos" (submarines in Spanish given the rough resemblance of shape between the twinkies and the vessel). They are sold in traditional and strawberry-flavored filling versions with an anthropomorphized child submarine with a hat (blue hat for vanilla, red hat for strawberry) as the mascot. They are also sold in this manner in stores specialized in selling hispanic products.

[edit] "In Latin America and Mexico"???

Isn't it a nonsense since Mexico is one part of Latin America? 83.208.30.93 (talk) 14:35, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Also in Mexico they are called (and referred to as) Twinkies, sold as Wonder. Alessandro Malfatti (talk) 23:27, 25 May 2008 (UTC)