Blowin' in the twind

Good morning Staker! Here’s what’s cookin’ today: House passes affordability bill but removes key measure; Willy Wonka’s wares will be back on shelves soon; New research looks at the health impacts of food preservatives; and Jason Bonham adds more dates to his Led Zeppelin Evening tour. 🤘

But first, our weekly poll!

Quaker Oats was the first company licensed to produce Wonka-branded candy, starting in 1971, when Charlie and the Chocolate Factory first hit theatres.

The brand’s ownership has changed hands multiple times throughout the years, including when Nestlé bought it in 1988 from Sunmark Corporation (Pixy Stix 😜).

Nestlé owned it until 2015 when it spun its candy business off into a subsidiary called Nestlé Candy Shop, which it sold to Ferrero for $2.8 billion in 2015.

Since then Ferrero, which is best known for products like LaffyTaffy and Nerds, has been re-popularizing the brand, including mashups with things like gummy clusters. Now the Wonka brand is getting a makeover and will relaunch this year in a partnership between Ferrero and Netflix.

“Behind the scenes, our research, development and innovation teams have been carefully leveraging decades of experience in real chocolate factories, applying Ferrero’s signature quality and craftsmanship, and bringing to life a new Wonka world,” Alessandro Rapali, premium chocolate president at Ferrero Group, said in a statement.

The partnership will result in the launch of new products across North America and various markets in Europe.

A new study published in the European Heart Journal took data from a larger study that involved over 112,000 volunteers who agreed to tell researchers everything they ate and drank over the last three days at check ups every six months.

The new study was designed to determine the impacts of certain types of food preservatives on human health, including antioxidant and non-antioxidant preservatives. The former is intended to prevent oxidization, which leads to browning and odor; the latter is intended to prevent microbes and bacteria from forming.

The researchers found higher consumption of both kinds of preservatives can lead to an increased risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease, including heart attacks, strokes, and angina.

Specifically, the researchers found those who consumed the highest amount of non-antioxidant preservatives had a 29% higher risk of developing hypertension compared to those who consumed the least. Those who consumed the highest amount of antioxidant preservatives were found to have a 22% higher risk of hypertension.

The researchers noted a 100% causal relationship couldn’t be established, but they did conclude a significant correlation exists.

Jason Bonham is in the midst of a North American tour that began in Mobile, AL on May 9. The leg has 12 remaining dates, which will conclude in Hershey, PA on June 7.

However, the son of the late great John Bonham ain’t done for the summer. He just announced a massive extension of the tour that will feature 17 new dates.

The extended leg also features shows in Vancouver, Phoenix, El Paso, Nashville, and other smaller markets where fans can enjoy an intimate but explosive evening of Led Zeppelin hits played by one of the last remaining musicians fit to play them.

According to a statement made by Bonham, the Led Zeppelin Evening will include a “set featuring the biggest radio hits Zeppelin ever wrote,” along with “fan-favorite deep cuts.”

Stairway To Heaven perhaps surprisingly hasn’t made an appearance on the set so far, but other than that, if it’s a Zeppelin hit and you can name it, you’ll probably hear Bonham’s band play it.

Tickets for the second leg of the tour officially went on sale yesterday via Ticketmaster.

Nerve-racking and nerve-wracking are two commonly-used spellings of the same phrase, and unlike most uses and misuses, both are actually considered correct.

Still, the former is actually the original form of the phrase, with the work “rack” etymologically linked to the word “reccan,” which is itself linked to the medieval torture device that would stretch or “rack” the person until they revealed whatever information their captors were looking for.

The phrase first appeared in print in the 1830s.

The happy hit produced a positive babel of uproarious applause, and we question whether the fair creatures who were the occasion of it, were proof against such nerve-racking shouts.
— North Wales Chronicle, Mar. 8, 1836

Nerve-wracking, however, didn’t appear until the end of the 19th century, and its usage was almost certainly the product of so many writers mistakenly adding the “w” that the grammar police were overrun, and literary bodies in charge of grammar and style simply began allowing it.

“Wrack” is linked with the word “wreck,” and “nerve-wracking” therefore comes with an almost greater morbidity; the nerves aren’t just being stretched—they’re being wrecked, or ruined, or destroyed, etc.

Long story short, words and phrases almost always drift from their etymological origins the longer they’re in free use by writers and orators. In the case of nerve-wracking, its origins haven’t been destroyed, but they’ve certainly been stretched.

Quizmaster’s choice

It’s another Friday, and that means it’s another round of à la carte with today’s trivia! 😎