> They are so unhealthy because in the quest to keep the price something that people can afford (or for greed in profits) companies are forced to turn it into processed zombie garbage
Well, sort of. That processing is generally there not so much specifically to keep the price down as to prolong the shelf life. But it's true that without the preservatives you'd be paying higher prices.
Tastykakes[1] are about the same price as Twinkies but have half the shelf life (or less, depending on the product) due to fewer preservatives and better ingredients. They don't have the distribution that Twinkies have, but it's grown to include the entire East Coast at this point, I think. Still pretty bad for you but several rungs up the garbage ladder, for sure. I don't understand how Twinkies are able to compete in their market.
It is true. The shelf life of those Tastykakes is three weeks. A Twinkie's is six. The shelf life of a Tastykake pie is seven days. They haven't changed much or at all since I was a kid.
Have you tried a Tastykake (and a Twinkie)? The difference is obvious if you can spare the calories.
Its a combination of three things: A triple whammy. Yes preservatives are extremely important. But we are now seeing reduced sizes as well as ingredient substitutions to preserve some semblance of the taste while using cheaper ingredients.
