緬因州高中40年不壞的奶油蛋糕
40-Year-Old Twinkie Lives On at Maine High School
緬因州高中40年不壞的奶油蛋糕
Twinkies reportedly have a shelf life of 45 days—but given that they’re chock-full of preservatives, how long can they really last? Apparently, 40 years and counting, judging from the survival of a long-lived Twinkie in a high school in Blue Hill, Maine, where in 1976 a chemistry instructor began a science experiment that's still going on.
一般奶油蛋糕保質期最多有45天。但它餡料豐富，不知究竟能存放多久？緬因州布盧希爾一所高中的實驗證明，奶油蛋糕可以存放40年以上。這項實驗在1976年由一名化學老師發起，現在仍在進行。
ABC News recently interviewed Roger Bennatti, a now-retired teacher who launched his now-famous snack cake experiment while working at Blue Hill’s George Stevens Academy. Bennatti was teaching a lesson on food additives and shelf life, and a student asked him how long a Twinkie could last.
ABC新聞最近採訪了當年在布盧希爾George Stevens學院開展該實驗的老師。他叫Roger Bennatti，現已退休。當時他正教授“食物添加劑和保質期”的課程，碰巧有名學生問他奶油蛋糕能存放多久的問題。
Bennatti didn’t know the answer, but he was willing to find out. He gave his students a few dollars, and they ran off to the store and returned with a package of two Twinkies. Bennatti opened the package, ate one of them, and placed the second one on top of the blackboard.
Benatti當時並不知道，但願意去找出答案。於是，他給學生幾美元，讓他們去商店買兩個奶油蛋糕。他吃掉一個，隨後把另一個放到黑板上方。
Bennatti’s chemistry students eventually graduated, but the Twinkie remained at George Stevens Academy for decades. Bennatti retired in 2005 and passed the still-intact Twinkie on to dean of students Libby Rosemeier, who was herself in Bennatti's class in 1976. Today, the cake sits on display in a glass case in Rosemeier's office and is known as George Stevens Academy’s claim to fame.
Bennatti這批學生後來都畢業了，但這塊奶油蛋糕卻在學校存放數十年。Bennatti也在2005年退休，他把這塊仍保存完好的蛋糕交給學生主任Libby Rosemeier保管。Libby也是當年那批學生之一。今天，這塊蛋糕仍存放在Rosemeier辦公室的玻璃盒子裏，還使George Stevens學院名聲大噪！
Even though he taught science, Bennatti couldn’t explain why the Twinkie wasn’t covered in green fuzz. He hypothesized that the cake stayed mold-free because it dried out, and also because of its added preservatives. “I'm not sure I'd try to eat it right now,” Bennatti said. “I don't think I'd want to risk it.”
Bennatti雖然是科學老師，但也解不開這塊蛋糕不腐之謎。他猜想，蛋糕之所以不發黴，大概因爲已經完全風乾，跟裏面的餡料大概也有些關係。“我不確定自己有勇氣再吃它，”Bennatti講，“我並不想去冒這個風險。”
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