Here’s the Twinkie a Maine school has kept for 40 years (and counting)
A chemistry teacher wanted to see how long it would take to decompose.
How long do Twinkies last?
Well, one of the snack cakes has stayed intact at a Maine school for 40 years.
In started out as an unofficial experiment. In 1976, the then-chemistry teacher at George Stevens Academy unwrapped a Twinkie and placed it on top of his classroom’s chalkboard so he and his students could see how long it would take to decompose, according to the Bangor Daily News.
Now, that same Twinkie sits in a glass case in the office of Libby Rosemeier, the academy’s dean of students.
Though the Bangor Daily News reports that the dessert is a bit discolored, it doesn’t appear to be moldy and still has the same iconic shape, save for a few crumbs that have fallen off.
This Twinkie has made the rounds in the news before. When Hostess, the bakery company behind Ding Dongs, Ho Hos, and, of course, Twinkies, announced in 2012 that it was bankrupt and planned to close for good, the Bangor Daily News pointed out that, though the treat may be gone from store shelves, there was still a Twinkie intact at George Stevens Academy.
It was 37 years old at that time, and Rosemeier was sure even then that the Bennatti Twinkie—nicknamed for Roger Bennatti, the chemistry teacher who set aside the Twinkie in his classroom—was the oldest in the world.
“A teacher in one of the Carolinas somewhere emailed me and said, ‘I heard your Twinkie doesn’t exist anymore, and I want to claim the title of World’s Oldest Twinkie,’” she told the Bangor Daily News in 2012. “His was only 20 years old, and I told him, ‘Tough luck, buddy.’”
Hostess reentered the snack-cake market in 2013 and announced that the new production of Twinkies would have “nearly double the shelf life, 45 days, when they return to stores,” according to NPR. Yes, apparently the original shelf life for the snack was 26 days.
As for the 40-year-old Twinkie at George Stevens Academy, there’s no definitive ruling on whether it’s still edible. Rosemeier told the Bangor Daily News that the possibility of taste-testing the Twinkie is “often joked about,” but no one has dared to try it—probably because of its age and its revered reputation at the school.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com