My vote goes for the one I heard about on the radio this morning. No longer the sole domain of “Fair food”, where one can only indulge a few times each year when the fair is in town, Hostess has entered an exclusive agreement with Wal-Martto make available, on a limited time basis, a frozen version of the fried Twinkie.
That’s right, now you can stock up on this epitome of empty calories and indulge multiple times per day, every day of your life - if you stock up now. I can’t imagine that these “treats” will ever go bad, especially if stored in a freezer. They probably wouldn’t if stored in the trunk of your car, for that matter. A bit mind boggling is the realization that somewhere, at some time, someone looked at a Twinkie - that concoction of solid sugar and chemical additives that is already 99% fat and carbs - and said “That’s just not unhealthy enough. Must… solve…dilemma…FRY that puppy!”. Even more mind boggling is that some marketing guru at Hostess saw that and decided that American society needed unfettered access, because…got me.
What other generally available health bombs are out there? Do any have a loyalty club that offers discounts on Cardiac Care Unit stays?
When the MN State Fair got deep fried Twinkies a few years back, I drug my best friend (dietician) to the stand because I needed them. She was not amused.
She’s less amused that I’m now trying to lose weight, but refuse to eat all that rabbit food she suggests.
Fat isn’t bad for you. Nor is salt. The (hopefully) embarrassed doctors are slowly changing the nutrition guidelines to actually reflect the evidence rather than a few outspoken experts’ opinions.
For common, readily available, really bad for you snacks I’m going with gummi bears/worms/whatever shape type candy. It has nothing but sugar to offer and sugar is really not good for you. And it sticks to your teeth and makes sure they get a good, full dose of sugar.
No, actually gummies are less sticky than jelly beans, gumdrops, etc.
Actually, I think the correct answer to “most unhealthy generally available snack” is something like Snickers or Peanut M&Ms—for someone who has a deadly peanut allergy.
You can argue that at least there are some usable nutrients in stuff that contains a lot of fat (just too MUCH of the one nutrient) but our carb needs are so low in comparison
with what you get from even a small portion of, say, jelly beans, that you have zero need of them.
Those packaged chocolate “donuts” that come with like 6 small donuts. I believe its because lard is used in the ingredients but a serving (one package) has nearly 100% of the daily recommended saturated fat intake.
That’s a bit of a broad statement. Anything, in sufficient quantity, is bad for an individual. Conversely, in moderation most anything is not actively harmful. This snack is literally 99% carbs and fat. The 1% protein is only due to the fact that the product is still made with beef fat. It has 16.5 grams of sugar - a bit over 4 tablespoons - per cake. There is nothing, absolutely nothing, about this product that is healthy. You can get the exact same nutritional value by eating a teaspoon of beef fat and 4 teaspoons of sugar. Actually, that may be better for you because you wouldn’t get the additives and preservatives.
That said, the occasional Twinkie is not going to have much of a cumulative affect on a healthy individual. Balance is the key. But we’re talking about bad snacks, not good nutrition!
Sweetened breakfast cereal. Even the adult type of breakfast cereal is horrible. Products like Special K and Wheaties and Bran Flakes, ounce per ounce, contain more sugar than Coca Cola and more salt than potato chips. Not even counting the lactose in the milk. Sweetened children’s cereal only contains about twice as much sugar as “healthy” adult cereals. The exception is mini-shredded-wheats, which contain no added salt or sugar, and are delicious.
Deep fried twinkies are for wannabees, go for the original and unhealthiest, from that bastion of heart attacks, pie eating, salad dodging nation of Scotland
Soft drinks. Available everywhere. No brand, make model, style, flavor, regular or unleaded, is immune as unneeded empty calories. As a kid I was raised in a home where soft drinks were a treat, maybe once a month at most, often as a special occasion event. Once I left home, still not so much. A bit of an indulgence a few years back. Now, I’m back to special occasions when I grew up. I can take them or leave them. Leave them mostly.
I’d question potato chips. Sure, they’re empty calories, but those calories are almost entirely from starch and monounsaturated fat. That’s not great, but something that’s mostly simple sugar or saturated and/or trans fat is bound to be worse for you.