Editing Twinkie (section)

===Shelf life===
A common [[urban legend]] claims that Twinkies have a theoretically infinite [[shelf life]], and can last unspoiled for a relatively long time of ten, fifty, or one hundred years due to the chemicals used in their production.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/food/ingredient/twinkies.asp |title=Forever Twinkies | publisher=Snopes – Urban Legends Reference Pages |date=May 19, 2011 |access-date=August 30, 2011 }}</ref>

According to a company executive, Twinkies are on the shelf for a short time; he told ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 2000 that the "Twinkie is on the shelf no more than 7 to 10 days."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/23/nyregion/twinkie-strike-afflicts-fans-with-snack-famine.html |title=Twinkie Strike Afflicts Fans With Snack Famine |last=Kelley |first=Tina |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 23, 2000 |access-date=February 10, 2012 |archive-date=September 4, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904052221/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/23/nyregion/twinkie-strike-afflicts-fans-with-snack-famine.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
The maximum shelf life was reported to have been 26 days, until the addition of stronger preservatives made beginning in 2012 increased it to 45 days.<ref name="ABC">{{cite web | url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/hostess-brands-comeback-include-twinkies-cupcakes-hohos-dingdongs/story?id=19615151 | title=What's New About the Twinkie and Other Hostess Brands Favorites | publisher=ABC News | date=July 9, 2013 | access-date=July 22, 2013 | author=Kim, Susanna | archive-date=July 16, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130716004242/http://abcnews.go.com/Business/hostess-brands-comeback-include-twinkies-cupcakes-hohos-dingdongs/story?id=19615151 | url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="time" /> A box of Twinkies from shortly before Hostess's bankruptcy in 2012 was opened eight years later; one had completely molded over with [[cladosporium]], another had a small amount of mold, and the creme filling in a third Twinkie had turned brown with the taste of "old sock".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/10/15/923411578/a-disturbing-twinkie-that-has-so-far-defied-science|title=A disturbing Twinkie that has so far defied science|first=Neil|last=Greenfield-Boyce|work=[[All Things Considered]]|date=October 15, 2020|access-date=October 23, 2020|archive-date=October 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201023011021/https://www.npr.org/2020/10/15/923411578/a-disturbing-twinkie-that-has-so-far-defied-science|url-status=live}}</ref>

The TV show ''[[The Simpsons]]'' depicted this claim in its 5th-season episode "[[Homer and Apu]]". A customer at the [[Kwik-E-Mart]] screws up a Twinkie and throws it on the floor in anger. Apu shouts after him, saying he cannot hurt a Twinkie. It then pops back into shape and Apu puts it back on the stand.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://simpsonswiki.com/wiki/Twinkie#cite_note-1|title=Twinkie|website=Wikisimpsons}}</ref>

It has even been claimed that Twinkies could survive a [[nuclear war]].<ref name="time">{{Cite book |last=TIME |first=The Editors of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ESaiDAAAQBAJ&dq=twinkies+nuclear+war&pg=PT115 |title=TIME American Originals: The Things That Shaped Our Culture |date=2016-06-24 |publisher=Time Inc. Books |isbn=978-1-68330-278-0 |language=en}}</ref>

The 2012 Super Bowl Chevy Silverado Apocalypse commercial also gives a nod to the Twinkie's reputed durability.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.adweek.com/creativity/chevy-guys-live-ford-guys-die-silverados-super-bowl-ad-137970/ |title=Chevy Guys Live, Ford Guys Die in Silverado's Super Bowl Ad |publisher=Adweek -Creativity |date=February 3, 2012 |access-date=April 18, 2017 |archive-date=April 19, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170419111345/http://www.adweek.com/creativity/chevy-guys-live-ford-guys-die-silverados-super-bowl-ad-137970/ |url-status=live }}</ref>