Twinkies lovers unite! This favorite food from one of my favorite food groups is in jeopardy and needs your help.
In case you have forgotten, Twinkies are those little yellow creme-filled cakes wrapped in a thin layer of cellophane. They once were filled with banana creme, but during World War II bananas were rationed and the bakers had to resort to a vanilla creme filling.
My first recollection was of the banana-filled cakes. You could bite the end off, stick your tongue in the cake, suck the creme out of them and then eat the cake.
In January this year, Hostess bakers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. Twinkie sales for the year ending 2011 were down 2 percent from the previous year probably because of the push to eat healthier foods. Nearly 36 million packages of Twinkies were sold.
A single Twinkie contains 2.5 grams of saturated fat. Consumers have moved away from white flour to whole -grain foods.
If the Twinkie disappears from the shelves, 19,000 workers in 49 states become jobless.
Hostess Twinkies is one of the most identifiable food brands in history. Hostess also makes Ho Hos, Sno Balls and Wonder Bread, and it is based in Irving, Texas.
In 1930, Twinkie’s roots were started by James Alexander Dewar, a baker for the Continental Baking Company in Schiller Park, Ill.
The machine that made shortcakes for strawberries sat idle when strawberries were out of season. They needed a new product and the Twinkie was born.
In 1988, a fruit and creme combination was introduced, but it was soon dropped.
Someone could say that eating a Twinkie is poetry in eating. So poetry has been written about Twinkies. These are the Haikus that have been written:

Stock up on Twinkies
Future is in jeopardy
Little Debbie laughs

Little yellow cake of mirth
I slide you into my mouth
and add to my girth.

A golden age is done
Twinkle Twinkle, little star,
Can the death of Peeps be far?

All of these were on the PBS tribute to the Twinkie.
A deep-fried Twinkie was introduced at the Texas Sate Fair. The cake is frozen and then dropped into the fryer. It is sold at fairs and ball games.
Takeru Kobayaski set a Guinness World Record on the Wendy Williams television program by eating 14 Twinkies in one minute.
That’s a mouth-full.