Twinkie, Deconstructed (2008) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

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Quotes edit see section history

• “It was a moment of truth that every parent recognizes. When you must admit your fallibility to your worshipful children....Then and there, I decided to put an end to the mystery and find out. I had to find the polysorbate...tree or wherever it came from.”

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• Because of the price-fixing lawsuit, and because the Western world has intensified its pollution laws (vitamin manufacturing can take a heavy environmental toll), the industry is moving quickly to countries such as India and especially China.

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• The B vitamins in enriched flour come from elemental ores, petroleum, bacteria, or fungi made in ways you would never allow in your house.

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• But thiamine mononitrate, the most common form of thiamine, is usually synthesized from basic petrochemicals derived from that old trusted food source, coal tar.

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• I began to question how we managed to engage serious science in the pursuit of creating something that isn’t even necessary to our existence.

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• All thirteen vitamins were discovered by 1948 and synthesized by 1972.

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• Niacin fortification simply eliminated pellagra as a death threat. Also, it’s important to note that niacin alone is not only essential for growth and energy, the other B vitamins actually cannot function properly without it.

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• Glucose does basically the same thing—acts as a terrific humectant—in a lot of nonfood products, too: it adds smoothness, flavor, and shelf life to tobacco; brings glossiness and pliability to shoe leather; stabilizes adhesives; prolongs the setting of concrete; moisturizes air fresheners; and controls evaporation of perfumes. It helps hand lotion stay moist on your shelf for years—essentially acting as a moisturizer for a moisturizer.

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• At 165 million tons per year, sulfuric acid is the most produced chemical in the world. The United States is the world leader, making about a quarter of that sum. It is so useful that it plays a role in just about everything that’s manufactured, from fertilizers to gasoline, including Twinkies. But the workers at the wells, refineries, acid plants, and steel mills haven’t an inkling that what they’re producing actually ends up in food.

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• How is calcium sulfate (the food additive) different from calcium sulfate (the soil amendment), or from its most common form, plaster?

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• Astonishingly important, chlorine is essential to about half of all chemicals made by the chemical industry, and about 85 percent of all pharmaceuticals. It is used to purify about 98 percent of our drinking water, too (and to keep our swimming pools clean). On top of all this, chlorine plays a common, useful, and helpful role in our daily diet.

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Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Steve Ettlinger (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 641.308

Notes for Parents edit see section history

A clean read.

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Professional & Technical › Professional Science › Agricultural Sciences › Food Sciences
• Books › Professional & Technical › Engineering › Bioengineering › Biotechnology
• Books › Nonfiction › Social Sciences › Popular Culture
• Books › Health, Mind & Body › Nutrition › Food Additives
• Books › Science › Agricultural Sciences › Food Science