Friday, May 25, 2007

Booknote: Twinkie, Deconstructed

Ettlinger, Steve. Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes. Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats. New York: Hudson Street Press, 2007. ISBN: 1-59463-018-7.


Genre: Nonfiction
Subgenre: Food narratives, popular science and history

If you want to learn more about what goes into your food, this is the book to read. Ettlinger looks at the well-known cake snack and goes through the list of ingredients to let readers know where things come from. From the flour to the additives, you get a full tour of items that may be baked, chemically altered, or even completely bioengineered. Some products are even used as industrial cleaners or explosives, but no worry, they are safe enough when they get to the Twinkie. Much of the trick has to do with amounts and concentrations. The book is an easy read. The chapters are pretty short, which make it a good book to read on the commute or just to read a little bit at a time. Some of the names of companies have been omitted for security reasons, but the reader will still get a good sense of processes and how things are made. Overall, I recommend this one.

Similar books may include:

Eric Schlosser, Fast Food Nation
Morgan Spurlock, Don't Eat This Book.

I think it may appeal too for those who read Barbara Ehrenreich's books, though I think this book is lighter.

Update note (same day): I came across this conversation between the author and Dr. Moira Gunn, out of TechNation. Found via LISNews.

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