Twinkies are the latest junk food to come out with a 100-calorie snack pack. So if you crave that spongy cake with the creme filling, you can now enjoy three miniature cakes in a controlled 100-calorie pack.

But are all these calorie-controlled packages really a good thing? I often wonder if people who would normally pass by chocolate chip cookies and other processed treats buy these items just because of the implied weight control benefit. But really, 100 calories of junk is still junk.

Rather than choosing small amounts of nutritionally-void food, why not make your own 100-calorie packs? You'll still have all of the convenience, but you'll have a lot more nutritional quality. That's a much better way to get some bang for your buck.

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Though I know the benefits of healthful eating, I'm all for having a treat now and then. I love a good batch of fish n' chips as much as the next person. But some of the foods that people dunk into a deep fryer just amaze me. How -- and why -- would anyone ever come up with these ideas?

Fitz just told us about chocolate-covered bacon. That's pretty outlandish (not to mention it sounds utterly disgusting). But the deep fryer holds it's fair share of nastiness, too. Maybe you've spotted some different concoctions -- like deep-fried Twinkies -- at your local greasy spoon. Or maybe you've visited your state fair and sampled some of the newest trends in fried foods.

If you must indulge, just remember to keep high-calorie, high-fat foods like these to extremely rare treats -- your arteries will thank you.

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Did you know that ferrous sulfate, an iron supplement found in vitamins and enriched bread products, is also a weed killer? Yeah, me either. Did you also know that the raw ingredient of baking soda is a mineral called trona, dug deep from the earth? These are just a few tidbits you'll learn in Steve Ettlinger's new book Twinkie, Deconstructed.

"Well, I don't eat Twinkies," you might be thinking (a little smugly) to yourself. But if you eat any type of processed food, this book might be worth reading. Many of the ingredients commonly found on grocery store shelves today appear in a Twinkie as well, and their origins may surprise you. For instance, did you know that artificial vanilla flavoring is produced in a petrochemical plant? The food sources these ingredients are derived from aren't necessarily harmful, but they aren't necessarily food either.

It sounds like a lesson in food labels that one won't soon forget. I know it just came out, but has anyone read it yet?

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