That's what I was thinking as I stood in front of the candy machine at work, my mind numbed after three hours in a meeting. As a friend said at the end of the get-together, "The glaze went right from my doughnut to my eyes."

Perhaps a candy bar will jump-start my enervated system, I reasoned, so that I can get back to meeting my four weekly deadlines. Alas, good sense prevailed and I bought pretzels instead of either a Mounds or an Almond Joy.

Junk food - it's everywhere, even in a magazine and a new book right here on my desk. If discussions of doughnuts, incantations on cola drinks or telling all about Twinkies cause you to lose control and indulge in these products of dubious worth, stop reading here. If, on the other hand, you've been to too many meetings lately and welcome losing control, have at it.

The April-May issue of Wine X magazine features an article by Tina Caputo called "Kitschy Food," reporting on important dates in food icon history over the last century. Among the dates listed are:

* 1897: Jell-O was introduced by a cough medicine manufacturer and carpenter.

* 1912: The National Biscuit Company debuted Oreo Biscuits, which changed to Oreo Cream Sandwiches in 1958.

* 1927: The Continental Baking Company brought out Wonder Bread and Hostess Cakes, Kool-Aid was invented and Pez breath mints for smokers were introduced in Vienna.

* 1937: Hormel gave the world Spam.

* 1953: Swanson introduced the first TV dinner.

* 1965: Enter Cool Whip, courtesy of General Foods.

* 1969: Tang, new in 1965, went to the moon with the Gemini astronauts.

* 1978: Ben and Jerry set up shop in a former gas station in Vermont.

* 1993: SnackWell's reduced-fat cookies shoved Oreos out of first place among cookies.

Caputo graciously cites James Trager's "The Food Chronology" (Henry Holt, $ 22.50) as her source, and also provides Web sites for several "pop culture food icons." Intrigued by Peeps, with us since the early 1900s? Check out http://www.wam.umd.edu/ jack/peep.html. Fans of Twinkies may enjoy http://www.jps.net/funnyguy.hive/twinkgal.hmtl. Into Pez? Find the Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia at http://www.spectrumnet.com/pez.