In 1976,
Roger Bennatti, a chemistry teacher at George Stevens Academy, in Maine,
unwrapped a fresh Twinkie and placed it atop a classroom chalkboard so
he and his students could see how long it took for it to decompose. 40
years later, that question remains unanswered, because mould simply
refuses to grow on the world’s oldest Twinkie.
The official shelf-life of a Twinkie – as stated by the company making
them nowadays – is only 25 days, but as the famous Twinkie of George
Stevens Academy clearly shows, it’s really a lot longer than that. It
has been sitting in a glass case for four decades now, and even though
it might not be safe to eat, it is looking fantastic for its age. Its
shape hasn’t change a bit, and if mould hasn’t grown on it so far,
chances are it never will.
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Libby Rosemeier, George Stevens Academy’s dean of students, was a
student in Roger Bennatti’s class on the day this decades old experiment
began. “We were studying the chemistry of food. We went next door to the
store, bought Twinkies and we gave them to Mr. Bennatti and [asked him],
‘How many chemicals do you think are in something like this?’” Rosemeier
recalls. “He said, ‘Let’s find out and see how long it lasts.’ He opened
the Twinkie package, ate one, and put the other one on top of the
[chalkboard].” The popular treat remained in his classroom for the next
28 years, until the chemistry teacher retired. From then on, the world’s
oldest Twinkie became Rosemeier’s responsibility, and she had her father
make a glass case to store it in.
Although many perceive this famous Twinkie as an indictment of processed
foods and preservatives, Bennatti said it is simply an ongoing science
experiment, one that may never end. He does admit that the ancient
treat’s fame, after it was featured on popular channels like MTV, CNN or
BBC, was certainly bad publicity for Hostess. “I’m surprised they
haven’t sent a SWAT team to come destroy it,” he jokingly told Bangor
Daily News, 3 years ago.
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The world’s oldest Twinkie has become a symbol of George Stevens Academy
and it’s although Libby Rosemeier says its popularity often overshadows
many of the good, important things that happen at her school, she also
admits that its a great ice-breaker between students and the faculty.
“It gets kids in my office just to talk,” she said. “They come to see
the Twinkie, and then all of a sudden I have a dialogue going. It’s
great.”
Asked if he ever imagined the Tinwkie would become such a big topic when
he first placed it on his chalkboard, Roger Bennatti, now an assistant
director of Fort Knox State Historic Site in Prospect, said: “I had no
clue. None whatsoever. It was just an innocent ‘let’s see what happens.
Now the Twinkie is a story that will never die.” Unless someone builds
the courage to eat it.
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Volunteers to eat the world’s oldest Twinkie are not hard to find. In
fact, Rosemeier says students often ask her if they can take a bite of
it. But it would really be a shame to stop the experiment prematurely,
just out of sheer curiosity. No, the Twinkie will remain in its glass
case at George Stevens Academy, until the dean retires in a few years,
and then it will fall into someone else’s care. And it will probably
keep changing hands for the next 100 years, or more.
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