Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are G...
A pop-science journey into the surprising ingredients found in dozens of common packaged foods, using the Twinkie label as a guide
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Dec 16, 2009
Liza
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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 vas More...
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 vas More...
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Oct 14, 2007
John
rated it: 
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. Ins More...
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. Ins More...
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May 05, 2008
thefourthvine
rated it: 
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, Ett More...
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, Ett More...
Nov 28, 2007
Jen
rated it: 
After a couple hundred credulous pages strewn with parenthetical filler and the same Ode to an Industrial Landscape rehashed seven or eight times, this book comes to a truly equivocal conclusion:
"[The] industrial aspect of our food--and Twinkies are but one among tens of thousands of processed foods--would be less troubling if it were easier to still see where it all comes from. There is often no terroir to an ingredient, no one place that it is actually from. [...] Eat enough [ More...
"[The] industrial aspect of our food--and Twinkies are but one among tens of thousands of processed foods--would be less troubling if it were easier to still see where it all comes from. There is often no terroir to an ingredient, no one place that it is actually from. [...] Eat enough [ More...
Jan 11, 2009
Ross
rated it:
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
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Feb 16, 2009
Jenny
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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 an
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Dec 30, 2011
Johanne
rated it:
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 foo More...
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 foo More...
Aug 07, 2010
Jeremy
rated it:
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. Polysor More...
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. Polysor More...
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May 31, 2009
Doctor Nurenberg
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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
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May 09, 2011
Pikachu
rated it:
Everything you never wanted to know about your food is in this book. And just so you don't think that the chemical processes described in this book are exclusive to Twinkies, Ettlinger throws in a couple of other name-brand products (Starbucks frappuccinos, Crisco oil, and Coca-Cola, to name a few) that share at least one. You think you know where your food comes from, you say? From the grocery store, you say? Well, Steve Ettlinger begs to differ. Just where, exactly, is the Polysorbate 60 secti
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Sep 09, 2009
Christine
rated 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 creat
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Dec 16, 2009
Nora
rated 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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Jan 09, 2012
Adam
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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
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Oct 06, 2008
Heather
rated it:
What a charming book. The concept is simple: the author will, in the nearly 300 pages of this book, explain exactly what is in a Twinkie. Among other things, the reader will learn about two ingredients that are explosive, one that traditionally offers protection against witches, one that has a financial connection to Osama bin Ladin, and several which are not food but various rocks. I was thoroughly amused.
Apr 12, 2010
Esther
rated it:
I just happen to be curious about what these strange things listed as ingredients really are. I learned a lot from this book, actually. More stuff is made from corn than I ever imagined. Baking powder wasn't always around (I just had never thought about it before). The ingredients discussed in this book are used in thousands of other products, edible and inedible, explosive and poisonous. It make you think. Processed food? Yeah, and the processes are mind-numbingly tedious and boring. It was har
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Aug 25, 2011
Rachel
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One of my hobbies is reading food labels and marveling at the ingredients, so this book was immediately appealing. Steve Ettlinger's research is fantastic and the book is informative. Moreover, i really appreciate the tone. It's fun and a little tongue-in-cheek, which is a breath of fresh air in foodie literature. Unlike some other food industry authors who take an all-too-serious judgy tone, Ettlinger lays out his research in an amusing and readable way. At one point when explaining how corn is
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Jun 28, 2009
Jonathan
rated it:
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 produc
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Apr 30, 2010
Jessietaylortanner
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I liked the theory of this book-deconstructing the ingredient label of a Twinkie as a means to expose the processed food market a whole. The author examines and visits the plants, factories and mines that produce the oft-unpronounceable ingredients common to the modern food label. While offering some interesting and disturbing facts about such, I found much of the writing dry and reminiscent of a textbook, albeit a simple one. I was also irked by the author's apparent apathy towards some of the
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Feb 08, 2010
Amanda J
rated it:
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 More...
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Nov 20, 2010
Telyn
rated it:
Not nearly as interesting as it sounds. The author did plenty of research but fails to convey it an an interesting manner. The actual substance of the book is about one tenth its length and the style of the writing is irritatingly juvenile—the tone evoked the hopelessly optimistic educational films of a vanished era, like "My Friend the Atom." Astonishingly, the last chapter is an impassioned plea to the American public to continue enjoying eating their Twinkies. Maybe he was afraid
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Jul 11, 2009
Jarek
rated it:
This book made me think of all the Twinkies and Little Debbie Snack Cakes my dad bought over the course of his lifetime—probably thousands. I seriously doubt that Dad looked at the ingredients label, and I doubt reading it would have changed his mind. He would have just shrugged and taken another bite. If you look at the ingredients of your food - I mean really look at them - or ever wondered what you’re eating when they contain mono and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (a food-grade equivalent o
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Jul 18, 2009
This book made me think of all the Twinkies and Little Debbie Snack Cakes my dad bought over the course of his lifetime—probably thousands. I seriously doubt that Dad looked at the ingredients label, and I doubt reading it would have changed his mind. He would have just shrugged and taken another bite. If you look at the ingredients of your food - I mean really look at them - or ever wondered what you’re eating when they contain mono and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (a food-grade equivalent o
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May 13, 2009
Hope
rated it:
An interesting look at the various ingredients that make up a Twinkie, and by extension, many of the processed foods Americans eat today. I say interesting because who knew how much of a Twinkie came from mined ingredients or from petroleum. The storytelling gets rather dry, especially in the last third of the book where everything is vague proprietary chemistry. Ettlinger steers clear, for the most part, of the consequences - to our health, to the environment - that these ingredients have. He a
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Feb 11, 2012
g-na
rated it:
If you've ever wondered why "processed food" is called that, then this is the book for you. The author looks at each one of the ~30 ingredients that make up Twinkies, and traces them back to their origins. You learn about the scale on which commercial food companies operate, and the hurdles individual ingredients go through before they even make it to the bakery. Two-thirds of the ingredients found in Twinkies aren't even found outside of commercial kitchens. While this book may not be
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Sep 10, 2011
Stephanie
rated it:
The book started out interesting, but tapered off quite quickly. The idea of analyzing the Twinkie was intriguing, but Ettlinger tried too hard to be funny. I didn't know what polysorbate 60 was before reading this, nor did I know what sorbic acid was, but I'm not sure I wanted to know what those ingredients were either. However, I did learn that Twinkies at least have some real food components. They won't survive a nuclear winter, and they do actually what used to be real food (including flour,
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Feb 21, 2009
TJ
rated it:
People are always using the phrase "a fascinating look at..." followed by a noun that is generally less than fascinating. But in this case, it really is a fascinating look at Twinkies. Each chapter is dedicated to one ingredient listed on the Twinkies label, and there are a lot of surprises.
Some things I didn't expect to find in the book include oil, lots of different acids, and industrial processes that turn basic ingredients like soy into additives with names you can't p More...
Some things I didn't expect to find in the book include oil, lots of different acids, and industrial processes that turn basic ingredients like soy into additives with names you can't p More...
Feb 22, 2012
Emily
rated it:
So, I've been carrying this book around since 2008 when Ettlinger did a reading and signing at Berkeley and I finally got around to reading it. I'd give it a 2.5. It's a very interesting premise, but because the entire book is just exploring each ingredient one at a time, it gets a bit boring. He tells us where the ingredient comes from, what it does, goes over some food chemistry, and tells us some interesting historical tidbits -- repeat for all the ingredients. Thus, it doesn't tell much of a
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Dec 24, 2011
Tom
rated it:
Full disclosure: While reading this book, you will crave a Twinkie. I did, at least, though I haven't eaten one in decades. Try to resist.
I have to say this this book gave me a lot of insight into where the various ingredients, additives, and vitamins in processed foods come from. After reading, it's nice to be able to look at an ingredient list and have some context as to what each item is, what it does, and where it comes from.
I thought it was smart for Ettlinger to al More...
I have to say this this book gave me a lot of insight into where the various ingredients, additives, and vitamins in processed foods come from. After reading, it's nice to be able to look at an ingredient list and have some context as to what each item is, what it does, and where it comes from.
I thought it was smart for Ettlinger to al More...
Apr 23, 2011
Kay
rated it:
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/nu More...
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/nu More...
