A Disturbing Twinkie That Has, So Far, Defied Science (npr.org) 54
Apparently Twinkies aren't immortal. After discovering that his 8-year-old Twinkies "tasted like old sock," biologist Colin Purrington sent them to a pair of scientists -- Brian Lovett and Matt Kasson from West Virginia University in Morgantown -- to study the kind of fungus growing on them. An anonymous reader shares the report from NPR: The researchers immediately thought some kind of fungus was involved in attacking the 8-year-old Twinkies, because they've studied fungi that kill insects and dry them out in a similar way. Plus, the reddish blotch on one Twinkie seemed to have a growth pattern that's typical of fungi. [...] They noticed that the wrapping on the mummified Twinkie seemed to be sucked inward, suggesting that the fungus got in before the package was sealed and, while the fungus was consuming the Twinkie, it was using up more air or oxygen than it was putting out.
"You end up with a vacuum," Lovett says. "And very well that vacuum may have halted the fungus's ability to continue to grow. We just have the snapshot of what we were sent, but who knows if this process occurred five years ago and he just only noticed it now." A quick examination with a magnifying scope revealed fungal sporulation on both the marred and mummified Twinkies, again suggesting the involvement of fungi. The researchers used a bone marrow biopsy tool to sort of drill through the tough outer layer of the gray, mummified Twinkie. "We certainly hit the marrow of the Twinkie and quickly realized that there was still some cream filling on the inside," Kasson says.
From the Twinkie marked with just a dark circle of mold, they were able to grow up a species of Cladosporium. "Cladosporium is one of the most common, airborne, indoor molds worldwide," says Kasson, who cautions that they haven't done a DNA analysis to confirm the species. So far, however, no fungi have grown from the sample taken out of the mummified Twinkie. "It may be that we don't have any living spores despite this wonderful, rare event that we've witnessed," Lovett says. "Spores certainly die, and depending on the fungus, they can die very quickly." They're not giving up, though. They'll fill lab dishes with all kinds of sweet concoctions to try to coax something back to life from the mysterious Twinkie mummy.
"You end up with a vacuum," Lovett says. "And very well that vacuum may have halted the fungus's ability to continue to grow. We just have the snapshot of what we were sent, but who knows if this process occurred five years ago and he just only noticed it now." A quick examination with a magnifying scope revealed fungal sporulation on both the marred and mummified Twinkies, again suggesting the involvement of fungi. The researchers used a bone marrow biopsy tool to sort of drill through the tough outer layer of the gray, mummified Twinkie. "We certainly hit the marrow of the Twinkie and quickly realized that there was still some cream filling on the inside," Kasson says.
From the Twinkie marked with just a dark circle of mold, they were able to grow up a species of Cladosporium. "Cladosporium is one of the most common, airborne, indoor molds worldwide," says Kasson, who cautions that they haven't done a DNA analysis to confirm the species. So far, however, no fungi have grown from the sample taken out of the mummified Twinkie. "It may be that we don't have any living spores despite this wonderful, rare event that we've witnessed," Lovett says. "Spores certainly die, and depending on the fungus, they can die very quickly." They're not giving up, though. They'll fill lab dishes with all kinds of sweet concoctions to try to coax something back to life from the mysterious Twinkie mummy.
"tasted like old sock"??? (Score:3)
Why on earth does he know what old sock tastes like?
On second thought, maybe I don't want to know....
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"It tasted like old sock," Purrington says. "Not that I've ever eaten old sock."
It's worth clicking on this article just for the pictures.
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Wouldn't it be GREAT if this was the cure for COVID?
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Wouldn't it be GREAT if this was the cure for COVID?
Just a SINGLE Twinkie? Talk about a Battle Royale...
... Battle Royale (2000) [imdb.com]
BTW, if you don't mind subtitles and a little teenage gore
Re:"tasted like old sock"??? (Score:5, Funny)
"Why on earth does he know what old sock tastes like? "
Starbucks.
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I know what you're thinking: That's not right, American Beer tastes like watered down horse piss.
But how do you know watered down horse piss doesn't taste like old socks? These are scientists after all.
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I know what you're thinking: That's not right, American Beer tastes like watered down horse piss.
Been awhile since you have been to the US then. At this point, unless I'm in Germany I can't drink the local beer because its swill compared to what I'm used to in the US. But do go on with your 20 year old jokes.
Dude this is /. (Score:3)
Re:"tasted like old sock"??? (Score:4, Insightful)
Why on earth does he know what old sock tastes like?
Most of "taste" is actually smell. While he might not know the sweet/sour/bitter/salty/umami qualities of old socks, he surely knows what old socks smell like.
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Then why didn't he say "smell" instead of "taste"?
Seriously.... did you honestly think someone pedantic enough to even bring this issue up would be content with that kind of answer?
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Do people not learn anything in science or biology class anymore?
The olfactory sense (smell) is linked to the gustatory sense (taste). So smell definitely affects taste which you can try out yourself. Try to identify cubes of pear, apple and potato by taste when your nose is blocked: https://www.scienceworld.ca/resource/taste-smell-connection/ [scienceworld.ca], or eat a piece of potato at the same time you are smelling an apple or a pear.
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Since the senses are linked it is perfectly normal to liken smells to tastes and vice versa. You eat something and the taste gives you associations to some smell, or you smell something and it reminds you of a taste.
When you smell something you expect it to taste the same. That is why we use likeness when describing these things. When a sommelier tells you that the white wine has grassy notes you are being told that it has a freshness that reminds you of perhaps newly mown grass, a smell we can associate to
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I think he got a bad batch. I've had twinkies older than 8 years that weren't moldy, just a little bit dry though barely tasted stale.
Re:I'm so glad that... (Score:5, Insightful)
There isn't enough funding, nor enough research jobs, for all researchers to focus on these three concerns.
In fact, there isn't enough work, total, to keep all available researchers busy. Here [nature.com] is a random article I found about that.
We have a real cultural problem in that we are pushing too many kids into getting an education in science so they can then face a working world where there aren't nearly enough jobs to go around...leaving them in debt and looking for whatever they can find that is outside of their degree (and probably depressed by this).
We should *stop* marketing science education to kids, and *start* voting for politicians who want to spend more on research.
Factory's automated (Score:3)
We're pushing the kids into science because there's less and less blue collar work every year. Improvements in materials mean less stuff breaking. Electric cars are coming and with them a *lot* less car maintenance. Computers have pretty much gotten as fast as more folks want/need them to be. etc, etc.
We might get a boost out of switching to renewables and reducing energy use (e.g. what the kiddies call the "Green New Deal") but it's unlikely the elders are goin
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I know there's a zombie plague pandemic and all, but have you been outside and looked around recently?
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Improvements in materials mean less stuff breaking.
No, it doesn't. They use those improvements to make things cheaper, not stronger. If a new material is stronger, they just make the thing thinner so that it's lighter and cheaper to ship, and uses less materials so it's cheaper up front. Everything I can think of is getting flimsier, with the sole exception of auto body. That's gotten stronger by law.
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Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe [mikeroweworks.org] agrees with you. Rather vehemently.
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What's wrong with these people? (Score:1)
False equivalency (Score:2)
That Twinkies don't rot on their own is a different claim than a contaminated Twinkie batch. Much the same with sealed pasteurized milk vs a punctured container.
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Worse, nothing "defied science," in fact, the twinkie was examined using food engineering equipment based on science, and they were fully able to describe what they found using technical terms.
Science is never defied. That is silly.
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Well, these Twinkies were sealed in the original air-tight packaging. Perhaps if sealed up in a clean room environment they'd do better. But the myth about Twinkies lasting forever was about normal store purchased Twinkies.
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I think the idea that Twinkies don't rot is mythology. Back when Hostess went bankrupt, I bought some packaged Twinkies. Figuring that they'd be collectible in a few years. Or at least conversation pieces. Despite storing them carefully, none lasted for longer than about a year without developing a healthy covering of green mold.
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That Twinkies don't rot on their own is a different claim than a contaminated Twinkie batch. Much the same with sealed pasteurized milk vs a punctured container.
Even UHT milk doesn't keep forever.
King (Score:3)
They'll fill lab dishes with all kinds of sweet concoctions to try to coax something back to life from the mysterious Twinkie mummy.
Mabe they prefer ding dongs.
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Mabe they prefer ding dongs.
This is slashdot, I prefer my ding-a-ling to your ding-dong.
https://youtu.be/S3CjXtMQ4CY [youtu.be] (Chuck Berry)
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Nobody is going to click on that shit from anonymous with no content spoiler.
This is slashdot. The only reason anybody would click on my link is that in 20 years I've never trolled them, they known I'm just making a boring cultural reference.
It hasn't "defied science" (Score:2)
It is mycology 101 that spores aren't viable forever. That's why mycologists collect slants that they revive and transfer on a regular basis.
Even if the Twinkie was stored in ideal conditions, the spores would probably still be nonviable after 8 years.
I wish them luck with their petri dishes. Culturing is super fun.
Strange that the fungi were able to defeat (Score:2)
The real question no one has asked: (Score:2)
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i actually wondered, but was still too disgusted to articulate. thanks!
i mean, that's crap food even fresh! ...
holy cow
fresh in Twinkie years . . . (Score:2)
"fresh" is a relative term.
For Twinkies, I think it means "made in the last century."
AFAIK, the last Twinkie was manufactured in 1935. The whole thing about SAC being under that mountain is a myth; that's where they store the Twinkies made then.
The next production run is scheduled in fifteen years, so that they will always have a fresh supply . . .
and if *that* wasn't enough to show that this was fake news . . . do they really expect us to believe that this mold is growing on plastic? (wait, what, you tho
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obligitory zombieland clip (Score:2)
Believe it or not, Twinkies have an expiration date. [youtube.com]
"Someday very soon, life's little Twinkie gauge is going to go.... empty."
Things we take for granted....
A "Disturbing Twinkie"? (Score:3)
Defied Science? (Score:2)
No that would be if it were floating in an antigravity bubble.
Umm (Score:2)
If I'm reading this right, he ate an 8 year old twinkie covered in mold. Ignoring that this is a ridiculous waste of the researchers' time and energy, that's just plain stupid.
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Anybody with experience in moldy food knows there are only a few common mold families that will grow that way on food.
Most food molds are only a danger to your sensibilities, they're not significantly toxic in the small quantities you'd be able to choke down.
There are lots of deadly dangers in food safety, but they're usually bacterial, sometimes viral.
We tested this in Arizona (Score:2)
A Twinkie left on an automobile dashboard over a sunny week will transmute into plutonium by neutron capture.
confused about the title, dawg, (Score:1)
What science was defied?
It sounds like the fungus had a party w/ twinkie and did what was expected of itself, inactivate.
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Inert gas packaging (Score:2)
I was a bit surprised that the mold was consuming oxygen inside the packaging. A friend at work, whose father works in food packaging, told me that most sealed plastic packages are filled with inert gas, such as CO2 or nitrogen. This is mainly to prevent oxidation of the product. This inert gas packaging came to light when there was a shortage of CO2 one year. It appears that most commercial CO2 is derived from the Haber-Bosch process for making ammonia, and one year, there was a reduced demand for ammonia,
And so it begins (Score:1)