"can" news and stories

Joystiq doesn't usually tackle food pieces, but when they involve Super Mario, they are willing to make an exception. Nintendo Canada and a group called Canstruction got together and built a giant Mario out of canned goods in honor of the new Super Mario Bros game becoming the fastest-selling game in the country. In total, 4,000 cans were used and the 10-foot tall Mario weighed over 2,600 lbs. Judging from the other photos, the foods used included canned ham and chicken, as well as bags of popcorn for the mustache and eyebrows. All the cans (and presumably the popcorn, as well) are being donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank when Mario is deconstructed.

Too bad they didn't do Mario Batali, the other super Mario, while they were at it!

A vocational therapy center in Japan is now producing a variety of canned breads intended to be used as emergency rations. Each can contains two 50 gram loaves of bread that supposedly stay fresh for up to three years without preservatives, according to Asahi.com. Pan Desuyo! (which translates to "This is bread!") is available in chocolate chip, raisin and fruit, and a blend of coffee, fruit and nuts. The cans sell for around $3. For many of us, the idea of canned bread probably conjures images of B&M's canned brown bread. Having tasted neither product, I can only say that Pan Desuyo! looks far more appetizing.

[Via Boing Boing]

Wolfgang Puck Self-Heating Latte cans are currently being pulled from shelves after reports of the cans leaking chemicals into the coffee or exploding, according to a recent story from beverage industry publication BevNET. The BevNET story recounts a blame game between licensees, the can's manufacturers, distributors and Wolfgang Puck Worldwide, Inc. The latter apparently requested that the cans be pulled after repeated customer complaints and supposed scrutiny from the FDA. The cans were originally released last spring. Some complaints included reports of a white substance, perhaps the calcium oxide used in the can's heating system, floating in the coffee. A Las Vegas woman also claims she was badly burned by a malfunctioning can that exploded. The cans supposedly heat their contents to 140 degrees. According to BevNET, the company that designed the cans marketed them with the slogan "It does what?"

[Photo: BevNET]

Starbucks has a canned espresso drink called the DoubleShot, which is a sweetened blend of cream and espresso. There is also a coffee shop and roastery in Tulsa, Oklahoma called the DoubleShot Coffee Company. Starbucks is suing the midwestern coffee company for trademark violations over the use of the name "doubleshot."

According to the blog Whiskey Wednesday, which has spoken with the owner of the DoubleShot Coffee Co., Starbucks trademarked the term back in 2001, around the time of the release of their canned beverage. Their lawyers have advised the roastery to desist from using the name, but the owner of the Tulsa-based shop stands firm behind his use of the term, explaining "Doubleshot is a generic industry term for two shots of espresso. They have no exclusive rights to it." If the case goes forward, a judge will end up deciding who, if anyone, has the rights to the term.

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