We may have gorged down on high fructose corn syrup-enhanced baking treats for nothing. CNBC is reporting that Hostess and the Bakers Union have agreed to mediation and that a Twinkies shutdown has been avoided. Here's the CNBC scoop (we'll add to this as soon as we get more details): 

BREAKING: Hostess and Bakers Union agree to mediation, preventing shut down.

— CNBC (@CNBC) November 19, 2012

And CNBC's official report adds, "The bankruptcy judge hearing the case says that the parties haven't gone through the critical step of mediation and asked the lawyer for the bakery's union to ask his client, who wasn't present, if he would agree to participate." And, the bakery's union said yes. Hostess was ready to start the legal process of liquidating all of its assets before the mediation agreement was made. How this shakes out for the executives who were asking for $1.75 million in bonuses contingent on the shutting down of Hostess remains to be seen.

But this is good news for anyone who liked those golden pastries and depending on the outcome of the mediation, it could possibly be good news for the 18,000 people who lost their jobs. The mediation also, for now, ends speculative reports about Twinkies being bought by the hedge fund manager who hosted Mitt Romney's 47-percent video as Fortune's Dan Primack reported (yes, this seriously happened), about Twinkies going Mexican and being acquired by Bimbo foods, about the pathetic "nationalize the Twinkie" campaign, and, most importantly (not really!), it ends Dr. Ruth tweeting gross things about the pastries: 

As Twinkies are phallic shaped w/goo inside to keep them alive in spirit if not on grocery shelves let's rename fellatio: Twinkie.

— Dr. Ruth Westheimer (@AskDrRuth) November 19, 2012

Mediation, as CNBC reports, is expected to begin tomorrow.

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Alexander Abad-Santos