second, the idea behind industry is to earn a profit and they do that by finding cheaper ingredients that replace the role of more expensive ingredients that are more likely to spoil, would you pay for a twinkie if it cost more and spoiled in three days?

third, preservatives dont make you live longer, they are primarly there as antimicrobial agents and most are digested by your body and are neiher harmful or beneficial for your body, but it is good for the twinkie because it stops the growth of mold and bacteria that can harm you... the reason we are living longer is we have access to better diets and better medicine available in first world nations

fourth, im not fat and i eat plenty of twinkies, in fact i wrestle so i need to make weight and... being obese is a choice, it is in no stretch of the imagination forced down your throat, yes some genes have been proven to play a role in obesity but there are plenty of nutritous foods and diet plans as well as simple exercise will keep your body metabolizing your food and burning calories keeping you in shape and the proper weight so every once in awhile you can have a comfort food like a twinkie in MODERATION

and lastly you should be more informed before making such comments... if you want some good reading on what is in your twinkie i highly reccommend "Twinkie, Deconstructed" by Steve Ettlinger, it is worth sitting down and reading...

Well, as the consumer of numerous Twinkies in my younger days, let me assure you that while they are perfectly edible, they do look better than they taste, LOL.

http://www.gotbiged.com/videos.htm