MEDIA

After Eating Nearly 22,000 Twinkies^®
Lewis Browning Still Wants More

SHELBYVILLE, Ind. - Lewis Browning’s love affair with Hostess^® Twinkies^® started on a milk truck route in 1941. Each morning, Browning traveled the bumpy dirt roads of rural Indiana, picking up fresh milk from farmers and hauling it back into town to local dairies.

With a truckload of fresh milk and the morning sun peeking over farmhouses and calmly grazing cattle, Browning’s thoughts did not turn to cereal. The milkman had an insatiable sweet tooth.

When he began his route in the late 1930s, Browning started each day with a Hostess Cup Cake. Tucked safely in his ice chest, just within arm’s reach, the Cup Cake was perfect until the sun melted its delicate chocolate icing, making the situation sticky.

Browning needed a rugged treat. One that could handle the sun. One that had creamy icing on the inside. Browning needed a Twinkie.

“I guess it has been a family secret,” Browning said. “My wife and I make weekly trips to the store for Twinkies.”

Shelbyville grocery stores can’t always keep pace with Browning. Sometimes the couple travels 20 miles to Indianapolis to maintain Browning’s Twinkie stash.

Browning, 86, has long since retired from his milk route. But his love for Twinkies lives on. He has munched on at least one Twinkie every day for the past 61 years. That’s nearly 22,000 Twinkies, not counting the days he has eaten two or three.

“Nobody likes Twinkies like I do,” Browning said.

Interstate Bakeries Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries, the Interstate Brands Companies, is the nation’s largest wholesale baking company with 63 bread and cake bakeries in strategic markets from coast-to-coast. The Company is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo. For additional information, visit Hostess’ Web site, Planet Twinkie, at www.twinkies.com

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Note: To arrange an interview with Lewis Browning, contact Derek Hall at (816) 960-3125.