Twinkie-Maker Hostess Files for Bankruptcy

Could America lose its most definitive snack?

Twinkies might be able to survive a nuclear apocalypse, but they might not make it through America's prolonged economic slump. Hostess Brands, the snack-food company that makes Twinkies, as well as Hostess Cupcakes, Wonder Bread, and much, much more, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States. Reports suggest that Hostess, based in Irving, Texas, owes about a billion to various creditors, with the bulk of that owed to employees' pension funds. Hostess says it has secured about $75 million to keep it afloat as it restructures, although whether the company will have to pare back its staff or – God forbid – stop producing the delicious snack cakes that Bill Clinton called "an object of enduring American symbolism" is still unclear.