Reviews: What the Heck's in a Twinkie?

“Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are,” wrote 19th-century French gastronomist Jean Anthelme Brillat-­Savarin. But without a Ph.D. in chemistry, who among us can figure out what we’re eating? To see what gives life (and shelf life) to today’s processed foods, writer Steve Ettlinger tackles a case study: the bewildering ingredient list of a Twinkie. In Twinkie, ­Deconstructed (Hudson Street Press, $23.95), we learn the secrets of producing iron-enriched flour (hint: you’ll need the kind of oil that comes from a well), what making soap has to do with baking a cake, and where those ubiquitous “natural and artificial flavors” come from. Here, Ettlinger describes two tricksof the trade: