Archaeologists uncover last remaining Pop Tart

A team of archaeologists from the University of Bangor have discovered what is thought to be the world’s only extant Pop Tart. The jam-filled, toasted pastry parcels, which enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the UK during the late 1980’s, were thought to have died out after consumers began to tire of burning their chins with red-hot strawberry preserve.

After hearing tales of a lost Pop Tart deep in the Cambrian Mountains, Professor Julie Sudgen and her team were determined to prove this theory wrong. ‘According to legend, a sheep farmer dropped his toaster down a ravine before he had chance to extract his breakfast Pop Tart.’ she explained. ‘It’s a well-known fact that they can hold their heat for ages, so we hit upon the idea of scanning the area with a thermal imaging camera.’

Sure enough, 5 miles outside Machynlleth, a brilliant white glowing spot showed up on the camera. ‘We knew we were onto something but, due to the steaming pools of jam that covered the immediate area, were worried that the tart’s integrity may have been compromised. We couldn’t believe our eyes when we dug up a perfectly preserved Pop Tart, still with enough jam in it to be classed as intact – and it was still warm too, as my blistered fingers will attest.’

(Written in response to the great Newsbiscuit Neat-O challenge, 28 Sep 2009)