New Products

New Pepsi Bottle Is 100 Percent Plant-Based

by Jason Best, Posted Mar 16th 2011 @ 3:00PM

Pepsi's new plant-based bottle design Photo: PepsiCo / AP Photo

Earth Day may not be for another month, but the folks at PepsiCo are celebrating early. The company has just announced that it has developed the world's first 100-percent plant-based PET bottle.

For those not wholly versed in enviro-speak, PET is short for polyethylene terephthalate, a.k.a. a type of plastic--or to hardcore tree-huggers everywhere, "All that is crazy and absurdly wrong with a consumer-driven society in overdrive."

Indeed, to look at the lowly plastic soda bottle, it can be hard to believe that such an eminently ubiquitous, forgettable and throwaway item could ever have become so socially and politically charged. But then again, it's precisely its unseemly propensity to pop up even the most unexpected of places that has made it increasingly loathed. After all, nothing spoils your eco-bliss like an empty Mountain Dew bottle washing against your ankles in the surf.

Filed under: New Products, Drinks

Ben & Jerry's 'Late Night Snack' Ice Cream Reviewed

COMMENTS 22

by Erik R. Trinidad, Posted Mar 3rd 2011 @ 11:00AM

Ben & Jerry's new flavor with Jimmy Fallon Photo: Erik R. Trinidad

The battle for late-night supremacy now moves to the ice-cream aisle. On the heels of Stephen Colbert's "AmeriCone Dream" comes a new late-night funnyman-inspired ice cream flavor from Ben & Jerry's. That's right; in conjunction with the two-year anniversary of SNL alum Jimmy Fallon taking over Conan O'Brien's NBC post at Late Night, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield have created "Late Night Snack," a premium ice cream complete with Fallon's mug on the lid. Here's how it rates:

The Claims: Ben & Jerry's Late Night Snack is vanilla bean ice cream with a salty caramel swirl and fudge-covered potato chip clusters.

Filed under: Taste Test, New Products, Chain Stores / Restaurants

Pepsi Skinny Can Back, This Time at Burger Bash 2011

COMMENTS 3

by Sarah De Heer, Posted Feb 25th 2011 @ 2:30PM

Diet Pepsi Skinny cans Photo: Sarah De Heer, AOL

Diet Pepsi "Skinny" -- is the marketing around the new product smart or just plain old annoying?

During Fashion Week, a time when New York City is surrounded by beautiful and slender women, Pepsi debuted its pint-size can dubbed the "Skinny Can." Everyone had something to say about it. In fact, it might have been more controversial than J. Woww walking down the runway is almost nothing.

Fine, we get it Pepsi, go big or go home.

However, as I walked inside the Burger Bash tent yesterday afternoon, I found myself face-to-face with these cans once again. Are you serious? Out of all places to show up during Food Network's Wine and Food Festival, they chose the Burger Bash?

The Burger Bash tent is lined up with more than 25 different burger creations. Lets be real here -- drinking Diet Pepsi from their Skinny can isn't going to help you in the calorie department.

Filed under: New Products, Events

Kraft Rolls Out New MiO Water Flavorings

COMMENTS 2

by Jessie Cacciola, Posted Feb 22nd 2011 @ 12:00PM

MiO Liquid Photo: MiO Facebook

There's something about a plain bottle of water that just doesn't cut it anymore. American consumers are wild for new ways to flavor nature's perfect beverage, and companies are happy to oblige them. (The water flavoring market is worth a staggering $1 billion, reports USA Today.)

Kraft is the latest to join the crowd. Their new MiO Liquid Water Enhancer, set to debut in March, is a zero-calorie line of flavorings ranging from Berry Pomegranate to Strawberry Watermelon. The twist? This isn't a powder. MiO is a concentrated liquid that comes in tiny eye-drop-sized bottles.

Filed under: Food News, New Products

Digestif Liqueurs: Digestion Is in Session

COMMENTS 1

by Joshua M. Bernstein, Posted Feb 16th 2011 @ 3:00PM

Bitter Truth E**X**R digestive liqueur Photo: The Bitter Truth

Every day, I'm pummeled with press releases touting "innovative," "thrilling" beverages that promise to change the way I get drunk. Largely, I hit delete. Yet every blue moon, my curiosity is piqued. Case in point -- a recent missive touting the creatively punctuated E**X**R, "a digestive liqueur that blurs the lines of conventional wisdom."

Oh, really? But I put a sock in my cynicism once I saw the elixir's pedigree. It's crafted by the Bitter Truth, makers of a marvelous line of cocktail bitters, including a killer celery creation that has a home in my bar. (Seriously, it is the goodness, especially in a gin and tonic.) E**X**R, the release continued, is "at once velvety smooth and clean, aromatic and herbaceous." It could tart up a pre-dinner Manhattan (not my cup o' tea) or be savored "neat after a rich meal to aid digestion." Sold! Since I like to eat till my belly resembles a bowling ball, I requested a sample.

In my lifetime of overeating, I've become intimately acquainted with digestifs. To move food along, I'll often tip back a taste of Fernet Branca, Italian Averna or maybe even Jägermeister -- yes, that black nectar began as a wind-me-down, not a pick-me-up.

Filed under: New Products, Drinks

New App from Jacques Torres Helps You Make Your Own Chocolate

COMMENTS 0

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Feb 11th 2011 @ 2:00PM

iTunes app Jacques Torres Mr. Chocolate Photo: iTunes

Love all things chocolate but perhaps you're a little wary of whipping up your own bon bons? Master pastry chef Jacques Torres (aka Mr. Chocolate) is here to help, with his new app (called MrChocolate, natch) for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch that channels his inner Willy Wonka. While the initial free app (available at the iTunes App Store) gives you a "behind-the-scenes" look at the Torres chocolate factory, a chocolate glossary, and an animated history of chocolate, among other features, the upgraded app is where the good stuff lives -- Torres video how-tos, recipes, and techniques.

It is almost Valentine's Day, folks. Isn't it time you learned to work it like Torres and bake a chocolate cake for real this year?

Filed under: New Products, Chefs

Flashcards for Foodspeak

COMMENTS 0

by Jason Best, Posted Feb 10th 2011 @ 4:30PM

Foodie Flashcards Photo: Knock Knock

Like any socio-cultural subset (gamers, tweens), foodies speak their own language, and if you're looking to chow down with the haute-cuisine set, well, you've got to come up with something better than "tasty" or "awesome" to describe that savory, paper-thin slice of imported Italian bresaola that practically just melted on your tongue.

What better way to expand your culinary vocabulary than this set of Foodie Flashcards? After all, if flashcards could get you a passing grade in high school French, then surely they can help you to pass as a foodie at your next farmers-market-themed potluck.

There's more than a hint of irony here -- just take a look at the Fifties-style "Dick-and-Jane" artwork. And there's the question of whether anyone short of Alice Waters would ever use a term like "mouthfeel" in actual conversation. (Well, ok, maybe Kristine Hansen, our wine critic.)

Filed under: New Products

Beer Marshmallows? Oh, yes!

COMMENTS 4

by Kristine Hansen, Posted Feb 8th 2011 @ 4:00PM

beer marshmallows Photo: Derek Hatfield

Beer has long been a key ingredient in a savory foods, from cheesy soups to steamed mussels, but rarely has beer dipped into the sweet side. Until now. Truffle truffle, an artisan chocolatier in Chicago, recently debuted its beer marshmallows -- the newest addition to the company's "beer & pretzel"" line.

Founder and owner Nicole Greene makes every marshmallow from scratch, then dips each fluffy, square-shaped marshmallow into milk chocolate. Finally, she tops them with crunchy bits of a sweet, salty beer-and-pretzel brittle. Voila! A beer marshmallow.

Filed under: New Products

The Chicken "Wyngz" Controversy

COMMENTS 3

by Slashfood Editor, Posted Feb 3rd 2011 @ 4:30PM

DiGiorno's pizza and wyngz Photo: DiGiorno

How do you disguise the fact that your chicken wings aren't wings at all? Just change the spelling from "wings" to "wyngz" and the government won't mind a bit. Stephen Colbert went after DiGiorno's "Pizza and Boneless Wyngz" combos during a "Thought for Food" segment on his show, "The Colbert Report," earlier this week, accusing the company of using the bizarre spelling to cover up the fact that the chicken wasn't wing meat. Turns out he was right. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service posted about it: "The FSIS allows the use of the term 'wyngz' to denote a product that is in the shape of a wing or a bite-size appetizer type product under the following conditions." Conditions? Here are just a few: The poultry has to be white chicken, the product can't contain any wing meat, and no other misspellings are permitted. Yeah, one horrible misspelling is probably enough in this case.

Read the full story at Consumer Reports.

Filed under: Television/Film, New Products

The Demy Recipe E-reader: A Clumsy Cook's New BFF

COMMENTS 2

by Libe Goad, Posted Jan 18th 2011 @ 1:00PM

The Demy e-reader on display at 2011 Consumer Electronics Show Photo: Libe Goad

Cookbooks and recipes have gone virtual, and while it's great to have that extra shelf space back, the digital age of cooking comes with a slew of new (and expensive) hazards. If you've ever taken your laptop or iPad into the kitchen, you know exactly what I'm talking about. One big oops!, and it's game over for what's most likely one of your most prized possessions.

That's where Key Ingredient's Demy digital recipe reader enters the picture. The $200 touch-screen tablet was on display at the recent Consumer Electonics Show in Las Vegas, and it's specifically designed to serve up your favorite internet recipes. Made with even the clumsiest cooks in mind, the 5x7 device has an extra-sturdy rubber base, and the sealed glass screen is completely spillproof, according to Key Ingredient President Wendy Jenkins. You can flip the Demy horizontally or vertically and the screen will reorient itself to the new position.

Keep reading and see a video demonstration of Demy after the jump.

Filed under: Trends, New Products