It's National S’mores Day: 16 decadent s'mores recipes & cocktails Continue reading on Examiner.com It's National S’mores Day: 16 decadent s'mores re

From: http://www.examiner.com/

Celebrate National S'mores Day with 16 decadent s'mores recipes & cocktails.

Credits: James Rubio

Continue reading on Examiner.com It's National S’mores Day: 16 decadent s'mores recipes & cocktails - National Holidays | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/holidays-in-national/it-s-national-s-mores-day-16-decadent-s-mores-recipes-cocktails#ixzz1Uf9jBwJj

No matter how you look at it, August 10th is a great day! Not only is today Lazy Day, but it is also National S’mores Day! Just imagine yourself relaxing in the hammock, sipping on a Lazy Day cocktail and munching on one or two decadent s’mores – crisp graham crackers filled with gooey marshmallows and rich chocolate.

While the origins of this annual holiday are unknown, s’mores were probably “invented” by the Campfire Girls decades ago. Gobbled up by both young and old alike, s’mores are tasty treats frequently made at campfires.

Don’t know how to make ‘em? You’re in luck: Whether you use an open fire, toaster oven or microwave, Kraft shows you just how it’s done with these simple step-by-step s'mores directions. If you have a camping trip coming up, have the kids practice making s’mores with this fun game by Hershey’s.

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Hershey's S'mores Photo Contest

In honor of National S’mores Day, Hershey’s is asking folks to share their favorite s’mores memories by uploading your favorite s’mores-themed photo and sharing with friends. S’mores-themed prizes include a camera, photo printing gift card, outdoor fire pit, roasting skewers and more. But hurry – the contest ends today.

Give Me S’more S’mores Recipes!

• Campfire S’mores Recipe – You’ll need graham crackers, chocolate bars and large marshmallows for this simple recipe. Don’t forget skewers or long sticks and a fire!
• Golden Grahams S’mores – This recipe, from Betty Crocker, calls for Golden Graham cereal, mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, light corn syrup, butter and vanilla.
• Sure Fire, No Fire S’mores – Paula Deen shares her top-rated recipe that calls for graham crackers, mini marshmallows and Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bars. No fire needed for this one – you’ll need your oven broiler.
• S’mores Cookies – Fair warning - this recipe looks amazing!
• Chocolate and Peanut Butter S’mores Recipe – You’ll need peanut butter, thin chocolate wafers and marshmallows.
• S’more Turtles – You’ll need caramel, honey grahams, chocolate candy kisses, marshmallows and pecans for this recipe from Kraft.
• Strawberry and Chocolate S’mores – Just add strawberry slices to graham crackers, dark chocolate and roasted marshmallows and you are good to go!
• S’more Brownies – You’ll need graham crackers, unsweetened chocolate, sugar, eggs, vanilla, flour, mini marshmallows and semi-sweet chocolate chunks for this recipe from Kraft Foods.
• S'more Brownies – This homemade recipe, from the Food Network, looks fabulous.
• Cookie S’mores Recipe – The folks at Hershey’s shows you how it's done with this simple downloadable recipe.
• S'mores Cheesecake Squares – ‘Nuff said!
• Caramel-Drizzled S’mores – You’ll need peanut butter cookies, bittersweet chocolate, caramel sauce and marshmallows for this one.
• S’more Cupcakes – This made-from-scratch recipe looks divine and doesn’t require a campfire!
• S’mores in a Jar Recipe – This recipe is a great gift idea! You’ll need 16-ounce Mason jars, graham crackers, butter, flour, cocoa powder, brown sugar, vanilla extract, milk, heavy cream, baking soda, egg and marshmallows.
• S'mores Martini - You'll need Toasted Marshmallow Syrup, chocolate vodka and chocolate sauce for this adult drink.
• Smokin’ S’mores Cocktail – Wow – this adults-only recipe is smokin' HOT! You’ll need Teddy Grahams, Bacardi vanilla, butterscotch schnapps, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Bacardi 151, mini marshmallows, toothpicks, matches and chocolate shot glasses.

Happy National S’mores Day! Enjoy!

Sugar Sues High Fructose Corn Syrup

by Sara Novak, Columbia
from http://www.treehugger.com/

Photo: colros

It's about the lesser of two evils, isn't it? But when push comes to shove, how different is sugar from high fructose corn syrup (HFCS)?

The Western Sugar Cooperative is claiming that the two are in fact very different. It recently filed suit against sugar refiners for misleading consumers in calling HFCS corn sugar, according to the Des Moines Register and as discussed on Food Politics. "The lawsuit names as defendants Archer Daniels Midland Co., Cargill Inc., and other major corn syrup processors as well as the Corn Refiners Association."

So, is it fair to call HFCS sugar? Not according to the Western Sugar Cooperative.

"This suit is about false advertising, pure and simple," said Inder Mathur, president and CEO of Western Sugar Cooperative, the grower group that filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court along with the Michigan Sugar Co. and C&H Sugar Co. Inc. "If consumers are concerned about your product, then you should improve it or explain its benefits, not try to deceive people about its name or distort scientific facts."

Corn Refiners Petition to Be Called Corn Sugar

I wrote in March that the Corn Refiners Association had asked the FDA to change the name HFCS to corn sugar. The Corn Refiner's Association lobbied hard for the name change because more and more people are refusing to buy products containing HFCS. As a result, many food manufacturers have stopped using HFCS and, instead, have replaced it with sugar. The sky rocketing price of corn, which has shot up nearly 50 percent in the past couple of months, has also been a factor. But it turns out that an existing FDA regulation makes the name change difficult. Marion Nestle wrote on Huffington Post that the name was already taken:

The Corn Refiners have just petitioned the FDA to be allowed to use the name "corn sugar" to apply to both glucose/dextrose and high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). But the existing definition seems to exclude HFCS. While HFCS is about half glucose, it is also about half fructose, and its manufacture from corn starch requires one more enzyme.

Here's the FDA regulation
.
But even still, HFCS has been using the name in its new advertising push, which is no small campaign. Corn Refiners spent nearly $30 million on advertising in 2008.

But how different are HFCS and sugar? Let's be clear: sugar and HFCS share the same biochemistry. Marion Nestle defines:

Sucrose: a double sugar of 50% glucose and 50% fructose linked together HFCS: a syrup of about 45% glucose and 55% fructose, separated

However, HFCS goes through highly unnatural processing. The process starts off with corn kernels. The corn is spun at a high velocity and combined with three other enzymes: alpha-amylase, glucoamylase, and xylose isomerase, so that it forms a thick syrup that's way sweeter than sugar.

But in the end it's all about market share. Each group wants a bigger piece of the economic pie and as public perception of these ingredients evolves, so too does the name by which each group would like to be referred.

A Passover Toast to a Rabbi Known for Social Activism, and for Kosher Coca-Cola

By SAMUEL G. FREEDMAN

From: http://www.nytimes.com/

Published: April 22, 2011

Rabbi Tuvia Geffen, of blessed memory, was born in Lithuania in 1870 and educated in the renowned Slobodka yeshiva. In the wake of a pogrom, he immigrated to New York in 1903, and seven years later he moved to Atlanta to become the rabbi of Shearith Israel, a tiny and struggling Orthodox congregation meeting in the battered remnant of a Methodist church.

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Tuvia Geffen

During his early decades at Shearith Israel, Rabbi Geffen established Atlanta’s first Hebrew school and oversaw its ritual bath. He stood by Leo Frank, the Jewish man falsely accused of murdering a young Christian girl, and after Frank’s lynching in 1915, the rabbi urged his congregants not to flee the South in fear.

At Passover in 1925, he spoke eloquently and presciently against Congress for passing immigration restrictions that “have slammed shut the gates of the country before the wanderers, the strangers, and those who walk in darkness from place to place.” As early as 1933, he warned about the Nazi regime in Germany. Long before feminism, he advocated for Orthodox women who were being denied religious divorce decrees by vindictive husbands.

But all those achievements are not why we invoke the name and memory of Rabbi Geffen today, more than 40 years after his death. No, we come to honor his least likely yet most enduring contribution to the Jewish people and his adopted nation: kosher-for-Passover Coca-Cola.

Yes, observant Jews of today, searching supermarket counters for those bottles with the telltale yellow cap bearing the Orthodox Union’s certification, and yes, Coke die-hards of any or no religion who seek out those same bottles for the throwback flavor of cane-sugar Coke, you owe it all to Rabbi Tuvia Geffen.

He of the long beard and wire-rim glasses and Yiddish-inflected English, a man by all outward appearances belonging to the Old World, he was the person who by geographical coincidence and unexpected perspicacity adapted Coca-Cola’s secret formula to make the iconic soft drink kosher in one version for Passover and in another for the rest of the year. To this day, his 1935 rabbinical ruling, known in Hebrew as a teshuva, remains the standard.

That ruling, in turn, did much more than solve a dietary problem. A generation after Frank’s lynching, a decade after Congress barred the Golden Door, amid the early stages of Hitler’s genocide, kosher Coke formed a powerful symbol of American Jewry’s place in the mainstream.

“Rabbi Geffen really got the importance of it,” said Marcie Cohen Ferris, a professor of American studies at the University of North Carolina, who specializes in Jewish life in the South. “You couldn’t live in any better place than the South to get it. To not drink Coca-Cola was certainly to be considered un-American.”

Or look at the interplay of Jews and America from another angle. Rabbi Geffen’s solution to the Coke problem was not to forget the kosher rules and melt into the melting pot. But neither was it to decry the spiritual pollution of modernity in the form of a fizzy drink. A half-century before the era of cultural pluralism, his answer was to have the majority address the distinct needs of a minority.

As a contemporary Orthodox rabbi, Adam Mintz, has written in an essay on Geffen and Coke: “Struggling to find their place in a land that was often hostile to their religion, American Jews respected and appreciated rabbis who sought to include them within the Orthodox camp rather than simply condemn them as sinners. Of course his approach would not have been possible had he not felt confident in his powers of persuasion.”

We can safely say, however, that this issue chose Rabbi Geffen rather than the other way around. As early as 1925, as the Orthodox authority in Coke’s home city, he was receiving inquiries from other rabbis about the drink’s kosher status. A few other rabbis had already given certification, without knowing the secret formula. And multitudes of American Jews were drinking Coke regardless.

“Because it has become an insurmountable problem to induce the great majority of Jews to refrain from partaking of this drink,” Rabbi Geffen wrote in his teshuva, “I have tried earnestly to find a method of permitting its usage. With the help of God, I have been able to uncover a pragmatic solution.”

Putting aside God’s props for a moment, we should note that Rabbi Geffen had some significant earthly help in the person of Harold Hirsch, a Jewish Atlantan who was Coca-Cola’s corporate lawyer. Through Hirsch, Rabbi Geffen was permitted to enter that industry’s Holy of Holies and receive Coke’s secret formula.

With it, the rabbi was able to identify the elements that rendered Coke nonkosher during the bulk of the year (oil of glycerine derived from beef tallow) and specifically during Passover (a corn derivative). Hiding the exact ingredients behind Hebrew euphemisms in his teshuva, Rabbi Geffen explained the needed corrections. Glycerine could be replaced by coconut or cottonseed oils, and the corn derivative by cane or beet sugars.

Kosher-for-Passover Coke is now produced under rabbinic supervision at bottling plants serving Jewish population centers in New York, Florida, Southern California and Houston, among other areas. A number of other major brands have followed Coke into the Passover market: Dannon, Lipton, Pepsi and Tropicana. There are tequila and blintzes made without forbidden grains.

“It used to be that for Pesach you were limited to matza and hard-boiled eggs,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, the head of the Orthodox Union’s kosher-certification program. “Now, I’ve got to tell you, I love those cheese blintzes.”

And, whether devout or debauched, Coke fans anticipate Passover for their own cultish reason: the usual sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup, is replaced by cane or beet sugar.

Moshe Feder, an editor of science-fiction and fantasy books, traveled to six supermarkets from his home in Queens before finding four two-liter bottles of Passover Coke. The subject of his quest happened to come up at a seder the other night. The host, a Jewish man, had never heard about the difference between Coke and Passover Coke. But two Roman Catholic guests, Mr. Feder reported, “knew all about it.”

Rabbi Geffen, of blessed memory, who’d have guessed you were so ecumenical?

E-mail: sgf1@columbia.edu

Coming Soon: 7Up Retro

by Steve

from http://www.bevreview.com/

As hinted at via our tweet on February 28, we've got confirmation that 7Up Retro will be arriving in May.

(Source: Flickr, used via CC BY-NC 2.0 license)

 

The launch will be tied to a promotion done in conjunction with NBC's Celebrity Apprentice reality show. You may recall that last year, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, the parent of 7Up, used the same show to launch limited runs of Diet Snapple Trop-a-Rocka Tea and Snapple Compassionberry Tea. Apparently the folks at DPSG found that platform successful enough to continue with rollouts.

We've also heard that Snapple's sponsorship of one of BevReview's favorite reality shows, The Amazing Race, will be used to introduce new flavors Papaya Mango Tea and Diet Papaya Mango Tea later this month.

The introduction of a limited time lemon-lime product that uses "real sugar" should provide a nice comparison product to Pepsi's Sierra Mist Natural. While we like the sugar Sierra Mist, we do agree that something in the taste just seems a bit… off.

Dr Pepper Snapple Group experimented with the current limited release "real sugar" trend in soft drinks via Heritage Dr Pepper (bottled by Pepsi) and Dr Pepper with Real Sugar (bottled by Coke). Of course what got this whole thing started was the rollout of PepsiCo's Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback, which after 4 limited edition rereleases, are now permanent parts of the Pepsi lineup. With the recent reboot of 7Up's normal formula, we're looking forward to tasting this sugar-infused version.

We couldn't turn up any trademark filings or early packaging art on 7Up Retro, but keep your eyes open! Remember we're just an e-mail, tweet, or Facebook post away!

A sweet problem: Princeton researchers find that high-fructose corn syrup prompts considerably more weight gain

by Hilary Parker
from http://www.princeton.edu/

A Princeton University research team has demonstrated that all sweeteners are not equal when it comes to weight gain: Rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained significantly more weight than those with access to table sugar, even when their overall caloric intake was the same.

In addition to causing significant weight gain in lab animals, long-term consumption of high-fructose corn syrup also led to abnormal increases in body fat, especially in the abdomen, and a rise in circulating blood fats called triglycerides. The researchers say the work sheds light on the factors contributing to obesity trends in the United States.

"Some people have claimed that high-fructose corn syrup is no different than other sweeteners when it comes to weight gain and obesity, but our results make it clear that this just isn't true, at least under the conditions of our tests," said psychology professor Bart Hoebel, who specializes in the neuroscience of appetite, weight and sugar addiction. "When rats are drinking high-fructose corn syrup at levels well below those in soda pop, they're becoming obese -- every single one, across the board. Even when rats are fed a high-fat diet, you don't see this; they don't all gain extra weight."

A Princeton University research team, including (from left) undergraduate Elyse Powell, psychology professor Bart Hoebel, visiting research associate Nicole Avena and graduate student Miriam Bocarsly, has demonstrated that rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup -- a sweetener found in many popular sodas -- gain significantly more weight than those with access to water sweetened with table sugar, even when they consume the same number of calories. The work may have important implications for understanding obesity trends in the United States. (Photo: Denise Applewhite) Photos for news media

In results published online March 18 by the journal Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, the researchers from the Department of Psychology and the Princeton Neuroscience Institute reported on two experiments investigating the link between the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup and obesity.

The first study showed that male rats given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, in conjunction with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas.

The second experiment -- the first long-term study of the effects of high-fructose corn syrup consumption on obesity in lab animals -- monitored weight gain, body fat and triglyceride levels in rats with access to high-fructose corn syrup over a period of six months. Compared to animals eating only rat chow, rats on a diet rich in high-fructose corn syrup showed characteristic signs of a dangerous condition known in humans as the metabolic syndrome, including abnormal weight gain, significant increases in circulating triglycerides and augmented fat deposition, especially visceral fat around the belly. Male rats in particular ballooned in size: Animals with access to high-fructose corn syrup gained 48 percent more weight than those eating a normal diet. In humans, this would be equivalent to a 200-pound man gaining 96 pounds.

"These rats aren't just getting fat; they're demonstrating characteristics of obesity, including substantial increases in abdominal fat and circulating triglycerides," said Princeton graduate student Miriam Bocarsly. "In humans, these same characteristics are known risk factors for high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, cancer and diabetes." In addition to Hoebel and Bocarsly, the research team included Princeton undergraduate Elyse Powell and visiting research associate Nicole Avena, who was affiliated with Rockefeller University during the study and is now on the faculty at the University of Florida. The Princeton researchers note that they do not know yet why high-fructose corn syrup fed to rats in their study generated more triglycerides, and more body fat that resulted in obesity.

When male rats were given water sweetened with high-fructose corn syrup in addition to a standard diet of rat chow, the animals gained much more weight than male rats that received water sweetened with table sugar, or sucrose, along with the standard diet. The concentration of sugar in the sucrose solution was the same as is found in some commercial soft drinks, while the high-fructose corn syrup solution was half as concentrated as most sodas, including the orange soft drink shown here. (Photo: Denise Applewhite)

High-fructose corn syrup and sucrose are both compounds that contain the simple sugars fructose and glucose, but there at least two clear differences between them. First, sucrose is composed of equal amounts of the two simple sugars -- it is 50 percent fructose and 50 percent glucose -- but the typical high-fructose corn syrup used in this study features a slightly imbalanced ratio, containing 55 percent fructose and 42 percent glucose. Larger sugar molecules called higher saccharides make up the remaining 3 percent of the sweetener. Second, as a result of the manufacturing process for high-fructose corn syrup, the fructose molecules in the sweetener are free and unbound, ready for absorption and utilization. In contrast, every fructose molecule in sucrose that comes from cane sugar or beet sugar is bound to a corresponding glucose molecule and must go through an extra metabolic step before it can be utilized.

This creates a fascinating puzzle. The rats in the Princeton study became obese by drinking high-fructose corn syrup, but not by drinking sucrose. The critical differences in appetite, metabolism and gene expression that underlie this phenomenon are yet to be discovered, but may relate to the fact that excess fructose is being metabolized to produce fat, while glucose is largely being processed for energy or stored as a carbohydrate, called glycogen, in the liver and muscles.

In the 40 years since the introduction of high-fructose corn syrup as a cost-effective sweetener in the American diet, rates of obesity in the U.S. have skyrocketed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 1970, around 15 percent of the U.S. population met the definition for obesity; today, roughly one-third of the American adults are considered obese, the CDC reported. High-fructose corn syrup is found in a wide range of foods and beverages, including fruit juice, soda, cereal, bread, yogurt, ketchup and mayonnaise. On average, Americans consume 60 pounds of the sweetener per person every year.

"Our findings lend support to the theory that the excessive consumption of high-fructose corn syrup found in many beverages may be an important factor in the obesity epidemic," Avena said.

The new research complements previous work led by Hoebel and Avena demonstrating that sucrose can be addictive, having effects on the brain similar to some drugs of abuse.

In the future, the team intends to explore how the animals respond to the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup in conjunction with a high-fat diet -- the equivalent of a typical fast-food meal containing a hamburger, fries and soda -- and whether excessive high-fructose corn syrup consumption contributes to the diseases associated with obesity. Another step will be to study how fructose affects brain function in the control of appetite.

The research was supported by the U.S. Public Health Service.

Cola Powered Radio Control Car Fueled by a Sugar Rush

As a health conscious parent, you’re probably not seeking plausible reasons to introduce your kids to cola — but a radio controlled car powered by pop? How cool is that? Takara Tomy, a Japanese toy maker, has manufactured a prototype RC ‘ene Bio Engine’ car (looks more like a futuristic delivery truck) that runs on Sony’s sugar fueled Bio-Battery. See the car in action in the video after the jump!

The car, which may be powered by a variety of sugary liquids (ie: the residue in kids’ juice containers), is still in its prototype phase. Once on the market, parents will be able to use the toy to encourage less waste and introduce a bit of life science. “The passive-type bio battery system generates eco-friendly electricity by breaking down sugar using processes similar to those in living organisms.”


For those parents who find it a bit dubious that, as Gigazine explained, “The speed/running-time of the toy depends on what drink you use” (i.e. the more sugary the drink juicing the battery, the more power the car will receive) — it should be noted that although for commercial reasons Tomy has chosen to use colas to promote the car (Coca-Cola, Sprite, 7-Up), the most efficient fuel tested was grape juice. And whatever syrupy liquids are left may one day power… your cell phone.
Images and video via Gigazine

Four Ways to Find Coke and Pepsi with Cane Sugar

By: Dahlia Rideout (View Profile)

Finding cane-sugar based sodas is becoming easier and easier these days. New, smaller soda makers are capitalizing on Coke and Pepsi’s insistence on using high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in their drinks. Colas like Boylan’s Cane, Red Rock, and Afri-Cola have begun inching their way into mainstream stores, much to the chagrin of Coke and Pepsi.

For twenty-five years now the Coca Cola company has been using HFCS in its original formula drink. The switch from cane sugar happened during the roll out of New Coke and the company’s rebranding in 1985. Coca-Cola Classic was reintroduced a few years later, although this time with HFCS instead of sugar which became the norm across most Coke and Pepsi sodas.

Here are at least four options for finding Coke and Pepsi with cane sugar in the U.S.

Option #1: Kosher Coke & Option #2: Kosher Pepsi for Passover

Now with Passover fast approaching, Kosher Coke and Kosher Pepsi are starting to appear on the shelves. These versions of Coke and Pepsi are both made with cane sugar instead of HFCS, and most reviewers say they prefer the taste. In addition they avoid the purported negative effects of HFCS including increased obesity and insulin resistance.

The kosher versions are mostly available in many urban centers, but they can be special ordered at most stores through the local bottler. Both kosher Coke and Pepsi have flown off the shelves in recent years with increased awareness of HFCS . Even non-Jews have been purchasing the special versions and stocking up on them. (Image source: bevreview.com).

Option #3: That 70’s Cola

Last year, Pepsi introduced Pepsi Throwback, touted as a sentimental version of the original recipe and only sold for a limited time. It’s back again for 2010 with a new-old look and will be sold until February 22, 2010. Why the limited time frame? Who knows, but it’s a brilliant marketing move by Pepsi to position it as vintage, avoiding the HFCS argument. Mountain Dew Throwback is also available. Each of these versions add about ten calories to a twenty-ounce serving (260 vs. 250 calories).

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Option #4: Destapa la Felicidad
Another way to find Cola-Cola with cane sugar is to seek out the Mexican formula, which is said to taste better than its American counterpart. It’s often difficult to find, but most Hispanic groceries and many restaurants are now selling it, along with some Costco and Kroger chain stores in areas with large Hispanic populations. Originally it was bootlegged in from across the border to keep local US bottlers from losing sales, but Coca-Cola now imports it into the US in small quantities.

Find this article at:

http://www.divinecaroline.com/22177/92010-four-ways-find-coke-pepsi

Snapple replaces corn syrup with real sugar

Reading the Tea Leaves, Snapple Refreshes Itself

By Jennifer 8. Lee

Snapple A different look for Snapple.

Snapple, once the “official beverage of New York City,” is being redesigned — inside and out — this year.

The popular iced teas are losing the high-fructose corn syrup and the dated font. The bottles are becoming more svelte (to better fit into cup holders, which became a force after Snapple iced teas were originally introduced). The labels will also emphasize the green and black tea leaves used to make the drink. The changes are rolling out over the first few months of the year, and they are expected to hit New York in early March, according to Dr Pepper Snapple Group, which is now the owner of the brand.

Snapple, which once defined the genre of specialty tea, now finds itself fading in an increasingly crowded field of competitors. The brand, which passed through many hands before landing as part of Dr Pepper Snapple, went through a round of focus group testing over the last two years.

“Through that work we really found that Snapple had lost of its luster and had been replaced in the minds of consumers by other beverages out there,” said Jim Trebilcock, an executive vice president with Dr Pepper Snapple.

(For example, President Obama prefers (the more lightly sweetened) Honest Tea, and the White House is now stocked with his favorite flavors, Black Forest Berry and Green Dragon.)

Real sugar is replacing the corn syrup. (Sugar vs. corn syrup, by the way, is the difference between Mexican and American Coca-Cola.) In some cases, that has actually resulted in a decrease in calories.

The old ingredient list for Lemon Snapple Iced Tea: “water, high fructose corn syrup, citric acid, tea, natural flavors.” Calories: 200. The new ingredient list: “filtered water, sugar, citric acid, tea, natural flavors.” Calories: 160.

The label is also being refreshed. Gone is the print-block style sun, the handwritten fonts, and the red highlights. Instead, they are putting more emphasis on “All Natural” and “Made From Green & Black Tea Leaves.” The “Snapple” itself is going from a heavy-set typeface to a more elegant serifed typeface. (Logo redesign seems to be in these days.)

Of course, Snapple’s origins are rooted in selling juices to health food stores. Originally, in 1972, it was a partnership of three men that was named Unadulterated Food Products.

The five-year, $166 million “official beverage” agreement with New York is scheduled to expire this year, because it failed to live up to its potential, but the drink and the city are still tightly bound. Not only was the original company founded in Brooklyn Queens in 1972, but also, about 40 percent of Snapple sales today are concentrated in New York City — arguably the highest concentration of any nationally distributed beverage in the United States.

Mr. Trebilcock said that Dr Pepper had 30 percent of its sales concentrated in five southwestern states, but still that was 30 percent, and across five states. “The New York consumer has made Snapple what it is,” he said.

While on the phone with the Snapple executives, this reporter took the opportunity to lodge a protest about the inability to find Mint Snapple Iced Tea, which apparently was discontinued despite protests and petitions. (Others are trying to take steps to remedy the absence, too.) Mint Snapple Iced Tea lovers, your voices have been heard.

Pepsi Introducing Pure Sugar Sodas To The US

Author: Steve

On April 20th Pepsi will start selling versions of Pepsi and Mountain Dew that use real sugar, rather than nasty high fructose corn syrup. The drinks will only be available until June, and while I’m hoping this is a test run to bring the big soda boys back into the sugar camp it probably has a little more to do with Passover. Jewish people who observe Passover generally don’t consume grains; hence the reason for seeking out sugar based sodas. Kosher Pepsi and Kosher Coke have been providing this alternative every year for awhile now, so no Jewish persons need go without a fizzy pop. But this is the first time Pepsi has made a serious push in the US market to test out pure sugar versions of Pepsi-Cola and Mountain Dew in a long while.

Of course you can still get pure cane sodas, if you search for them. Here in Syracuse I favor Jones Soda, a Canadian company, for my carbonated sweet drink choice. The great news is Pepsi has said the price for the pure sugar version will be the same as the traditional one. A concern since HFCS has been used for so long due to its absurdly lower price.

I know you shouldn’t really drink pop at all, but if you do it should be made with sugar. So go out and support this product, and even if we’re not eating or drinking healthy…we’re at least a tad bit healthier. Baby steps out of the office, and baby steps onto the elevator.