New Banana-Creme Twinkie A 'Bit Healthier'?

I didn't know Twinkies could get any worse, but they have

The makers of one of the top-selling junk food products of all time must be getting desperate now because they know they are teetering on the brink of economic collapse as people are finally realizing they don't need to eat as much of these products anymore.

Interstate Bakeries Corp., parent company for Hostess who makes the famous half-billion selling spongy, creme-filled snack cake Twinkies, has now introduced a brand new flavor--well, sorta.

This Houston Chronicle article gushes over the new Banana-Creme Twinkies which will now become a permanent part of their product offerings. Actually, this is the original flavor that Twinkies had back in the 1930's and early 1940's until there was a banana shortage during World War II when Hostess switched to the familiar vanilla creme.

But after several limited reintroductions to the marketplace over the past few years, most notably during a 4-week stint in 2006 where sales increased by 20 percent, Hostess decided it was time to bring it back for good starting last week. It's on grocery store shelves now for parents and kids alike to stock up on this high-carb, sugary garbage!

According to Calorie King, just one Twinkie has 27g carbohydrates with 19g of that being sugar. As bad as that is, the reality about the serving size most people consume is worse. Since Twinkies are usually packaged as twins, those TWO Twinkies have a whopping 54g carbohydrates and 38g sugar! EEEEEK! Plus, you gotta read Steve Ettlinger's Twinkie Deconstructed to see what's actually in a Twinkie (can you believe there are ROCKS and PETROLEUM in 'em! Yuck!).

Now that half of Americans are lowering their carb intake, foods like Twinkies are on the brink of obscurity. Even still selling a half BILLION annually is quite formidable and we'll continue to have Twinkies as a cultural mainstay.

What's most frightening about the introduction of this new Banana-Creme Twinkie is the way the 20-something woman in the story reacted to it.

"You can still taste the original Twinkie flavor underneath it," she said. "It almost makes it seem like it's a little bit healthier than a regular Twinkie."

Oh my gosh, are people REALLY this stupid?! Sadly, I'm afraid there are.

If you are livin' la vida low-carb, then obviously these new Twinkies are NOT "a little bit healthier" for you. Can you say, "Well DUH!"