Happy birthday Twinkie!

OK, so it has nothing to do with health (other than perhaps what not to eat) but I read today that it is the 75th anniversary of the Twinkie. I’m pretty sure there’s enough preservatives in them that if there’s a 75-year-old package of them lying around it’s probably still edible.

Donovin Cox, a Michigan fifth-grader, designed the anniversary box (more on that here) and won a college scholarship for his efforts. I hope a lifetime supply of the tasty treats didn’t come with it. (Sadly, while working on this item, I aced the Twinkie quiz.)

Though it doesn’t tell the half-life of a Twinkie, the TWINKIE project page does show the results of all sorts of other experiments that have been done on the tasty sugar-filled treat (click here for a summary in haiku).

Other fun facts: In Minnesota, apparently, there’s a Twinkie law, preventing politicians from bribing voters with sugar, Chicago counsumes the most Twinkies, and the Twinkie defense (diminished capacity due to excess sugar consumption) has been used in a murder trial.

Celebrate with a Twinkie if you must (one has 150 calories and 14 grams of sugar, 20 mg of cholesterol and 25 grams of carbs). All things in moderation, right? Just don’t have a deep-fried one (which ups the calorie content to more than 300 per tube).