Lifestyle_HT_twinkie_40yr

Ingredients

Even those of us who don't regularly indulge in Twinkies have probably heard the myth surrounding them at least once: namely, that they never, ever expire.

The issue with these kinds of speculations, of course, is that it’s impossible to satisfy your curiosity in a reasonable span of time.

So luckily, an experiment performed in 1976 is here to report its findings to us now.

After teaching a lesson on food additives and preservatives, one teacher at George Stevens Academy in Maine performed a chemistry experiment to test the old Twinkies wives’ tale — and now, 40 years later, the world is paying attention to the results.

The Chemistry teacher in question, Roger Bennatti, has since retired from the small private school, but recalls that after his lesson on food additives, a curious student started speculating about the lifespan of a Twinkie.

Just as a true chemist should, Bennatti put the query to the test: after sending his students out to the store with a few dollars, they returned with a package of Twinkies. First, he gobbled one down (respect). Then, he placed the second one on the blackboard.

“Let’s see,” ABC News reports him as saying.

That was in 1979.

Now, 40 years later, the enduring Twinkie sits on display in a glass box in the office of the current Dean of Students, Libby Rosemeier. Incidentally, she also happened to be one of Bennatti’s pupils in the fated Chemistry class.

“It’s really funny that we’re this wonderful coastal community in Maine, and we have this school of 325 kids that is a gem and we’re doing great things and kids are going to great colleges, and the thing people know about us is this 40-year-old Twinkie,” Rosemeier told ABC News.

Bennatti expressed similar surprise at how much attention his Twinkie experiment has garnered; nevertheless, he refers to it as a “worthy science experiment.”

“When I retired I could have taken it with me, but I wanted it to stay with George Stevens,” he said to ABC News, saying that he hopes the Twinkie remains on display and is dedicated to all of the past, present and future science students of the high school.

“I’ve heard people suggest that the sports teams should be renamed the Fighting Twinkies,” Bennatti laughed, “but I’m not so sure they’ll go for that.”

Check out the dusty (but definitely still intact) Twinkie below:

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Even those of us who don't regularly indulge in Twinkies have probably heard the myth surrounding them at least once: namely, that they never, ever expire.

The issue with these kinds of speculations, of course, is that it’s impossible to satisfy your curiosity in a reasonable span of time.

So luckily, an experiment performed in 1976 is here to report its findings to us now.

After teaching a lesson on food additives and preservatives, one teacher at George Stevens Academy in Maine performed a chemistry experiment to test the old Twinkies wives’ tale — and now, 40 years later, the world is paying attention to the results.

The Chemistry teacher in question, Roger Bennatti, has since retired from the small private school, but recalls that after his lesson on food additives, a curious student started speculating about the lifespan of a Twinkie.

Just as a true chemist should, Bennatti put the query to the test: after sending his students out to the store with a few dollars, they returned with a package of Twinkies. First, he gobbled one down (respect). Then, he placed the second one on the blackboard.

“Let’s see,” ABC News reports him as saying.

That was in 1979.

Now, 40 years later, the enduring Twinkie sits on display in a glass box in the office of the current Dean of Students, Libby Rosemeier. Incidentally, she also happened to be one of Bennatti’s pupils in the fated Chemistry class.

“It’s really funny that we’re this wonderful coastal community in Maine, and we have this school of 325 kids that is a gem and we’re doing great things and kids are going to great colleges, and the thing people know about us is this 40-year-old Twinkie,” Rosemeier told ABC News.

Bennatti expressed similar surprise at how much attention his Twinkie experiment has garnered; nevertheless, he refers to it as a “worthy science experiment.”

“When I retired I could have taken it with me, but I wanted it to stay with George Stevens,” he said to ABC News, saying that he hopes the Twinkie remains on display and is dedicated to all of the past, present and future science students of the high school.

“I’ve heard people suggest that the sports teams should be renamed the Fighting Twinkies,” Bennatti laughed, “but I’m not so sure they’ll go for that.”

Check out the dusty (but definitely still intact) Twinkie below:

This 40-Year-Old Twinkie Doesn't Look A Day Over 22

Even those of us who don't regularly indulge in Twinkies have probably heard the myth surrounding them at least once: namely, that they never, ever expire.

The issue with these kinds of speculations, of course, is that it’s impossible to satisfy your curiosity in a reasonable span of time.

So luckily, an experiment performed in 1976 is here to report its findings to us now.

After teaching a lesson on food additives and preservatives, one teacher at George Stevens Academy in Maine performed a chemistry experiment to test the old Twinkies wives’ tale — and now, 40 years later, the world is paying attention to the results.

The Chemistry teacher in question, Roger Bennatti, has since retired from the small private school, but recalls that after his lesson on food additives, a curious student started speculating about the lifespan of a Twinkie.

Just as a true chemist should, Bennatti put the query to the test: after sending his students out to the store with a few dollars, they returned with a package of Twinkies. First, he gobbled one down (respect). Then, he placed the second one on the blackboard.

“Let’s see,” ABC News reports him as saying.

That was in 1979.

Now, 40 years later, the enduring Twinkie sits on display in a glass box in the office of the current Dean of Students, Libby Rosemeier. Incidentally, she also happened to be one of Bennatti’s pupils in the fated Chemistry class.

“It’s really funny that we’re this wonderful coastal community in Maine, and we have this school of 325 kids that is a gem and we’re doing great things and kids are going to great colleges, and the thing people know about us is this 40-year-old Twinkie,” Rosemeier told ABC News.

Bennatti expressed similar surprise at how much attention his Twinkie experiment has garnered; nevertheless, he refers to it as a “worthy science experiment.”

“When I retired I could have taken it with me, but I wanted it to stay with George Stevens,” he said to ABC News, saying that he hopes the Twinkie remains on display and is dedicated to all of the past, present and future science students of the high school.

“I’ve heard people suggest that the sports teams should be renamed the Fighting Twinkies,” Bennatti laughed, “but I’m not so sure they’ll go for that.”

Check out the dusty (but definitely still intact) Twinkie below: