Saturday, August 31, 2013

FOXNews.com: Wine gadgets that actually work

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Wine gadgets that actually work
Aug 30th 2013, 17:41

There are so many cool wine gadgets on the market and I usually get sucked into buying most of them, but then they never work!

So after wasting enough money, I called in my very own Jedi Master to help me pick the best wine accessories on the market

Okay, so not real Jedi Master, but she's real Wine Master.  Jennifer Simonetti-Bryan is the fourth woman and one of only 30 people in the U.S. to ever attain the international title of Master of Wine -- the highest wine title in the world. In 2008, she was honored with an international tasting trophy for her palate.

That makes her my Jedi Master.

So, if I'm going to believe anyone's product reviews, it's hers.  And she came up with two great ones – and to be crystal clear -- she has no financial interest in either of them.

The first was the newly launched Coravin.  It looks like a fancy Rabbit corkscrew but it actually puts a pin hole in the cork and lets you access the wine without corking it. Created by a urologist (I swear), it basically lets the wine flow out but doesn't allow the oxygen in, says Simonetti-Bryan.

It just might be the coolest wine product I've ever seen because you can taste aging wine or just take a glass from your favorite bottle without corking it.You have to watch the video.

The next gadget was the BevWizard, a wine pourer.  Now I have a ton of these at home and have never noticed a difference.  But this one worked so great; it basically took the harsh tannins out of the wine.  Perfect for those older, bigger Italian bottles that I love.

Many thanks to my Jedi Master.

So do you have a favorite wine gadget? Let me know.

Cent' Anni.

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FOXNews.com: How spice up healthy school lunches

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How spice up healthy school lunches
Aug 29th 2013, 13:15

For Catherine McCord, packing school lunches for her two children does not consist of just throwing an apple and a PB&J in a brown bag. 

"Food should be fun, so kids can play with it."

- Catherine McCord, founder of the blog Weelicious

The lunches McCord prepares are a perfect mix of nutrition, easiness and fun—and she's never packed the same meal twice.

"Food should be fun, so kids can play with it," McCord told FoxNews.com. "I'm always thinking of how you can change up the everyday boring sandwich. I'll do some wacky things to change it up instead of just putting a banana in their lunch.  And I also try to get the most nutrition."

McCord, the founder of the baby and toddler food blog, Weelicious, has a new cookbook called, Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box With More Than 160 Happier Meals.  She said she is on a mission to make sure that her children's lunch boxes come home empty every day, and wants to do it as simply as possible.

What are her secrets?

Get the kids in on the process

"The more you get kids involved, the more they are interested in what's in their lunch," McCord said.  "Picky eating can come from not knowing what foods are."

McCord suggests going to the grocery store with your children and telling them that they can pick any fruits and vegetables that they want.  She also recommends purchasing a kid-safe knife and cutting board so that they can participate in the preparation.

Recipe: Strawberry Cream Cheese Sushi Rolls

Less containers and fun lunch boxes

"When my son was in preschool, I got to go watch him eat lunch for the first few weeks," McCord said.

She found that the teachers preferred when kids had fewer containers because it resulted in less waste. 

"It's better when kids can see everything," she said.

McCord suggests the stainless steel lunchbox from Planet Box (It's super durable and fits right in the dishwasher) and the colorful Bento-Ware boxes from Laptop Lunches

With both brands, there are simple, neat compartments for each food item, the presentation is nice, and less goes in the trash, McCord said.

Size and texture

"[Food] texture is important," McCord said. "Some kids do better with crunchy foods.  You can have something cool like yogurt and then something crunchy."

McCord also recommends switching between hot and cold meals, and slicing up an apple into bite-size pieces instead of throwing a whole one into the lunch.

Recipe: Italian Tuna Melt with Provolone and Arugula

Remember the food groups

McCord has an easy solution to making lunches healthy.

"The principle for me is always a carbohydrate, a protein, a fruit and a veggie," she said. "If you have all of that then you know you have done your job as a parent."

Reinvent food

McCord -- who includes a meal leftover item in her kids' lunches almost every day -- says you should reinvent items so they're new and exciting for your children. She often takes something like brown rice from dinner and uses it to make burritos or quesadillas the next day.

"Leftovers are such a great way to utilize what you made the night before," she said. 

A creative food repurposing ended up in one of McCord's most popular recipes—tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons.

"Growing up, I loved tomato soup with grilled cheese – I loved dipping it in," she said. "I thought it would be a fun idea to cut up a grilled cheese and throw it back in the oven to make croutons for the soup."

Recipe: Silky Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Crouton Bites

Weelicious Lunches: Think Outside the Lunch Box With More Than 160 Happier Meals is due out Sept. 3.

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FOXNews.com: Long John Silver's announces it will stop using fat oil

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Long John Silver's announces it will stop using fat oil
Aug 28th 2013, 20:35

Long John Silver's reportedly announced on Wednesday that the seafood chain has begun switching all U.S. restaurants to trans fat free cooking oil.

Long John Silver's restaurants will begin using trans fat free cooking oil for non batter-dipped products, including french fries, hushpuppies, clams, crab cakes, catfish and all breaded seafood products, reported the Fort Mill Times

Mike Kern, the company's CEO, said the move is  "part of the evolution of Long John Silver's to a contemporary, relevant seafood brand."

The seafood chain has been under pressure by the consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) for its use of trans fat cooking oil.  In July the group named the restaurant's the "Worst Restaurant Meal in America."  It called the dish a "heart attack on a hook" for what it said had more than 1300 calories, 33 grams of trans fats and 3700 milligrams of sodium.

CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson in a statement praised Long John Silver's efforts to make the switch to trans fat free cooking oil so fast. We appreciate the speed and seriousness with which Long John's Silver's leadership addressed our concerns and made this important change for the better."

So what about the taste of the food?

Taste tests by Consumer Reports show that that the food cooked in non-trans fat oil nearly match the taste of the artery-clogging type.

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FOXNews.com: Toyota says new Prius, fuel cell car due in 2015

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Toyota says new Prius, fuel cell car due in 2015
Aug 29th 2013, 15:34

Toyota has two important vehicles coming in 2015: the next-generation Prius hybrid and the company's first hydrogen fuel cell car.

Satoshi Ogiso, a top Toyota engineer who helped develop the original Prius 20 years ago, said Wednesday that the new Prius will get significantly better fuel economy than its current 50 miles per gallon. It will have an advanced battery, motor and gas engine combination that is smaller, lighter and cheaper than the current version.

Ogiso wouldn't reveal the fuel economy, but he's hoping to at least match the 10-percent gains Toyota has gotten in the last three generations of Priuses. A 10 percent gain would get the Prius to 55 mpg in combined city and highway driving.

"The challenge to continue to improve at this rate, to beat your own record, becomes very difficult but makes it all the more motivating," Ogiso told media at an event near Detroit. "I can tell you that we are very motivated to beat our record."

The new Prius will ride on a new, lower chassis to improve its handling and aerodynamics. It will also have a nicer interior. Ogiso wouldn't say how much it might cost, but a less expensive hybrid system could help bring down the Prius's $24,000 price tag.

Toyota hopes the revamped Prius will help it reach its goal of selling 5 million hybrids in the U.S. by 2016. As of July, the company had sold more than 2 million Toyota and Lexus hybrids, including 1.4 million Prius compact cars, Prius C subcompacts and Prius V wagons.

Bob Carter, Toyota's senior vice president of automotive operations in the U.S., said its hybrids have come a long way since the Prius debuted in the U.S. in 2000. Just over 5,500 Prius hybrids were sold that year; last year, the company sold 236,000 Prius family vehicles.

"Arguably, Prius is more than a car. It's become a pop culture icon," Carter said.

Carter added that even as the company introduces other technologies, including hydrogen fuel cell and electric cars, hybrids will remain at the core of the company's offerings for at least another 50 years.

"You can take any fuel efficient technology and extend the range and make it even more efficient with a hybrid," he said.

Ogiso said more details about the hydrogen fuel cell car will come early next year. So far, there is only one other commercially available hydrogen fuel cell car in the U.S.: Honda's FCX Clarity, which is leased in limited numbers in Southern California.

Zero-emission fuel cell cars are not likely to be big sellers until there are more hydrogen fueling stations on U.S. roads. But Ogiso said Toyota is committed to the technology and expects to sell "tens of thousands" of them through 2030.

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FOXNews.com: The art and science of making beer can chicken

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The art and science of making beer can chicken
Aug 29th 2013, 18:02

You may not find too many restaurant chefs plopping their poultry on cans of PBR, but all those tailgaters and beachside grillers are on to something.

There are solid scientific reasons that chicken really does roast better in a more upright, lifelike pose than when it is flat on its soggy back. And by adding a couple of extra prep steps to the technique and taking your care with the temperature, you can get the best of both worlds: succulent, juicy meat and crispy, golden brown skin.

On top of all that, you get to drink the beer! The chicken doesn't actually need it.

Beer-can chicken recipes are everywhere on the Internet, but most of them don't address the two biggest challenges of roasting poultry. The first is to avoid overcooking the meat. Nothing is more disappointing at a Labor Day cookout than to bite into a beautiful-looking chicken breast only to end up with a mouthful of woody fiber that seems to suck the saliva right out of your glands.

The solution to this first challenge is simple: take your time, measure the temperature correctly and frequently, and choose the right target for the core temperature (as measured at the deepest, densest part of the thigh). When you cook the bird slowly, the heat has more time to kill any nasty bacteria living in the food, so you don't have to cook the heck the out of thing.

The federal government recommends bringing the meat to 165 F for at least 15 seconds. But guidelines issued by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service show that 35 minutes at 140 F achieves the same degree of pasteurization, even in the fattiest chicken.

The recipe below calls for several hours in the oven and a core temperature of 145 F to 150 F, which will meet those guidelines as long as you slow-cook the bird at a low temperature. But be sure you use a reliable, oven-safe thermometer and place it properly as directed in the recipe. The tip shouldn't be touching or near any bone.

The second challenge that most beer-can chicken recipes fail to overcome is crisping the skin. Here, liquid is the enemy, and adding additional liquid in the form of a can full of beer is the wrong approach. So empty the can first — the specifics of that will be left as an exercise for the reader— and use the empty can merely as a way to prop up the bird and to block airflow in its interior so that the meat doesn't dry out.

Also, give the skin some breathing room by running your (carefully washed) fingers underneath it before roasting. As the subdermal fat melts away, it will trickle downward; a few well-placed punctures provide exits without compromising the balloon-like ability of the skin to puff outward under steam pressure. Held apart from the juicy meat, the loose skin will dry as it browns, especially during a final short blast of high heat in a hot oven.

Done right, each slice of tender meat will be capped with a strip of wonderfully flavored skin, which will be at its crispiest when it emerges from the oven. So have your table ready, and don't be slow with the carving knife. But do take a moment to remove the can before you tuck in.

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FOXNews.com: French bakers tell Kanye West that good croissants can't be rushed

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French bakers tell Kanye West that good croissants can't be rushed
Aug 30th 2013, 19:10

The French take their croissants seriously.  They should be made fresh, with the finest ingredients and with dough that is rolled twice --the second time in butter. 

But don't tell that to Kanye West who rapped in "I am God" about his impatience with waiting for a perfectly executed croissant. "In a French-ass restaurant / Hurry up with my damn croissants." Mon dieu!

The Association of French Bakers sent off a letter extolling the art form of French pastry making, and told the singer (tongue-in-cheek or real poison, it's hard to tell) that were he in fact a God, "why you do not more frequently employ your omnipotence to change time and space to better suit your own personal whims." 

Billboard posted the letter in its full glory.

But here it is again. 

Association of French Bakers
900 Rue Vielle du Temple
Paris FRANCE

To Monsieur Kanye West:

Congratulations on the birth of your daughter, Nord! This is a truly auspicious time for you  —  and so it is with great sadness that we must lodge a formal complaint against the song "I am a God" from your new album "Yeezus."

Our organization represents bakers across France, many of whom have taken great offense at this particular rhyming couplet:

In a French-ass restaurant
Hurry up with my damn croissants

Assuming you, as a man of means, dine exclusively at high-end restaurants and boulangeries during your voyages to Paris, it could not be possible that the delay of your "damn" croissants originated from slow service. And certainly, you are not a man to be satisfied with pre-made croissants from the baked goods case reheated and tossed out on a small platter. No  — you had demanded your croissants freshly baked, to be delivered to your table straight out of the oven piping hot.

And it was with great joy you ordered croissants  — not crêpes or brioches  — because only croissants can proudly claim that exquisite combination of flaky crust and a succulent center. The croissant is dignified  —  not vulgar like a piece of toast, simply popped into a mechanical device to be browned. No —  the croissant is born of tender care and craftsmanship. Bakers must carefully layer the dough, paint on perfect proportions of butter, and then roll and fold this trembling croissant embryo with the precision of a Japanese origami master.

Our organization represents bakers across France, many of whom have taken great offense at this particular rhyming couplet:

In a French-ass restaurant
Hurry up with my damn croissants

Assuming you, as a man of means, dine exclusively at high-end restaurants and boulangeries during your voyages to Paris, it could not be possible that the delay of your "damn" croissants originated from slow service. And certainly, you are not a man to be satisfied with pre-made croissants from the baked goods case reheated and tossed out on a small platter. No  — you had demanded your croissants freshly baked, to be delivered to your table straight out of the oven piping hot.

And it was with great joy you ordered croissants  — not crêpes or brioches  — because only croissants can proudly claim that exquisite combination of flaky crust and a succulent center. The croissant is dignified  —  not vulgar like a piece of toast, simply popped into a mechanical device to be browned. No —  the croissant is born of tender care and craftsmanship. Bakers must carefully layer the dough, paint on perfect proportions of butter, and then roll and fold this trembling croissant embryo with the precision of a Japanese origami master.

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Tuesday, August 27, 2013

FOXNews.com: U.S Customs crush illegally-imported Land Rover Defender

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U.S Customs crush illegally-imported Land Rover Defender
Aug 28th 2013, 04:09

The Land Rover Defender is one of the toughest vehicles ever built yet even it can't survive the crusher of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The example featured in the above video was seized at a Baltimore port back in April and sent to the crusher because it was imported illegally.

The Defender is no longer offered for sale in the U.S. due to crash safety and emissions regulations, but older versions, at least 25 years of age, can be imported legally under classic car rules.

Since the basic design of the Defender hasn't changed since the launch of the first version back in 1983, unscrupulous individuals have been buying more recent examples on the used market in the U.K. and modifying them to look like older series models. The vehicles are then imported to the U.S. under the classic car rules and sold to possibly unwary customers. Even the VINs are swapped for those from older models.

Due to its rarity, prices for a Defender in the U.S. can reach as much as $100,000, according to Robert Hunt, a customs officer in Baltimore. In the U.K., used examples can be found for as little as $2,000. Original Mini Coopers have also been illegally imported using the same means.  

Hopefully Land Rover will hurry up and launch a new Defender in the U.S. since clearly there is considerable demand for the iconic nameplate. The last we heard, the new Defender's launch has been pushed back beyond 2015, the date when the current model will be phased out due to tougher emissions regulations.

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FOXNews.com: Iowa city spends $16G on electric car charging stations, only sees $13 return

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Iowa city spends $16G on electric car charging stations, only sees $13 return
Aug 27th 2013, 20:43

The city of Des Moines, Iowa has only seen a $13 return on its investment so far after spending $16,000 last year on three electric car charging stations.

The ChargePoint units, installed in front of the Franklin Avenue Public Library and funded by a mix of city, state and library money, have been used just 13 times since last spring, the Des Moines Register reports. Each use generates one dollar of revenue.

Des Moines Public Library Director Greg Heid believes the low return isn't an issue yet.

"I think this will be taking off as electric cars catch on and as people see this as an alternative," he told the newspaper.

Iowa has 40 electric vehicle charging sites state-wide, and there are 6,416 across the U.S., the Department of Energy says.

Click for more from the Des Moines Register.

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FOXNews.com: Traveling exhibit to feature unique look at food

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Traveling exhibit to feature unique look at food
Aug 27th 2013, 15:41

If you thought there wasn't a science to cooking, think again.

A new exhibit by a team of scientists, chefs and photographers from The Modernist Cuisine reveals the laboratory quality of culinary art. And art is really the only word to describe the 100 food photographs that will be on display starting Oct. 26 at Pacific Science Center in Seattle.

The large-format photographs, taken by Microsoft's former chief technology officer turned chef/photographer, Nathan Myhrvold, and his team at Modernist Cuisine, showcase an advanced array of imaging and culinary techniques.

One photo shows all the elements of a burger caught in midair, as if they were thrown together in a frenzied last-minute meal. Another image captures the sectional perspective of canned vegetables boiling in a pot of water. Another photo shows a blueberry sliced in half and shown as an enhanced cross section.

"I hope that others share with us the child-like wonder and curiosity I feel when looking at these photos," Myhrvold said in a release.

On the technical side, the images represent some serious innovation in food photography. The photographs, some of which will span six feet in length, were captured using techniques such as panoramic stitching, focus stacking, and microscopy, which are not often used in food photography. They offer a rare view inside the culinary landscape – the time-frozen chaos inside a spice grinder, the interior of pork as it's roasting, vegetables growing roots as seen from the earth below.

The photographs will be on display in Seattle until Feb. 17, 2014, after which the exhibit will travel around the world for three years. The exact locations and venues are still in the works, so make sure to check back at The Modernist Cuisine's website for updates.

For those unable to attend the exhibit, a 312-page coffee table book of the photographs will be on sale by mid-Oct. and available for purchase online.

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FOXNews.com: New York alcohol regulators ban New Jersey wine retailer from selling in state

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New York alcohol regulators ban New Jersey wine retailer from selling in state
Aug 27th 2013, 15:34

New York is reportedly cracking down on a major New Jersey alcohol retailer illegally selling wine to Empire State residents. 

The New York State Liquor Authority (NYSLA) this month issued a cease-and-desist letter the Wine Library, one of New Jersey's largest alcohol retailers-- ordering it to stop sending wine to New York customers, according to Wine Spectator. Gary Vaynerchuk, the owner of the Wine Library, created an entrepreneurial empire with his national wine outlet and creation of his popular webcast series, Wine Library TV.

"I applaud the chairman of the SLA for grabbing the biggest retailer in the state of New Jersey and telling them they shouldn't be breaking the law."

- Michael Correra, executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association

Current New York state laws prevent residents from ordering any imported wines online and prohibit the direct shipment of wine from out-of-state wine stores, auction houses or wine clubs.

Even though retailers ran the risk of getting caught breaking the law, New York's alcohol regulators traditionally looked the other way.

Some are pleased that the NYSLA is now cracking down on the Wine Library. 

"I applaud the chairman of the SLA for grabbing the biggest retailer in the state of New Jersey and telling them they shouldn't be breaking the law," Michael Correra, executive director of the Metropolitan Package Store Association, an organization that represents New York retail beverage industry, told the magazine. 

But some see the move as detrimental to New York consumers and out-of-state retailers, alike. 

"For a major wine state to send out a cease-and-desist to a retailer 30 miles from midtown Manhattan obviously is trying to make a point. It's definitely a power play of wholesalers and old-guard retailers of New York state against the quote-unquote up-and-comers." Daniel Posner, owner Grapes the Wine Co. and president of the National Association of Wine Retailers told Wine Specator.

A new report from the Washington, D.C.-based American Wine Consumer Coalition --that advocates for less government controls on state liquor laws -- gave New York State a D+ in its Consuming Concerns: the 2013 State-by-State Report Card on Consumer Access to Wine.  

The report, which graded the 50 states and Washington D.C. on alcohol laws and regulations, cited the state's prohibition on grocery store wine sales and direct shipping from wine retailers
to consumers.  

Wine Spectator noted that at least one online retailer already changed its policy and no longer ships wine to New York state due to the cease-and-desist letter.

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FOXNews.com: Burger King to offer 'French Fry Burger' for $1

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Burger King to offer 'French Fry Burger' for $1
Aug 27th 2013, 14:19

Burger King says it will start offering a "French Fry Burger" for a buck, as it looks to fend off McDonald's aggressive push for its Dollar Menu.

The Miami-based chain says the burger will be available Sept. 1 through the fall, as it looks to drum up sales and customer interest with cheap new concoctions.

The burger, which clocks in at 360 calories and 19 grams of fat, is a relatively novel offering, but doesn't require any extra investment from Burger King; it's basically a standard beef patty topped with four of the chain's french fries.

The offering comes as fast-food chains jump through hoops to get customers through their doors, in large part by heavily promoting their cheapest eats.

McDonald's in particular has stepped up advertising for its Dollar Menu, which now features its Grilled Onion Cheddar Burger and a more substantial McDouble, which has two patties and a slice of cheese. That forced Burger King and Wendy's to adjust their tactics earlier this year to stress value more clearly as well. Burger King, for example, has offered any two sandwiches for $5 and a Junior Whopper for $1.29.

It's not clear whether the strategy will pay off for the chains, or what impact it could have on wearing away at profit margins over the long term. But in the latest quarter, Burger King said its sales at North American restaurants open at least a year slipped 0.5 percent. Wendy's reported an anemic 0.4 percent rise, while McDonald's reported a 1 percent increase for U.S. restaurants. The metric is an important indicator of health because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations.

Other chains, by contrast, are faring better. Chipotle reported a 3.4 percent increase and Starbucks said the figure rose 9 percent.

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Monday, August 26, 2013

FOXNews.com: Frozen beer keeps your brew colder longer

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Frozen beer keeps your brew colder longer
Aug 26th 2013, 20:12

Think frozen beer and you automatically think of an exploding bottle in your freezer.   

But Japanese beer maker, Kirin, has created  Kirin Ichiban Frozen Beer, made with a machine that creates a freezing foam ice cap on your beer that keeps your brew colder for longer. 

Frozen beer was first introduced last year in Tokyo and quickly became a huge hit. Buoyed by that success the company took it to the U.S. and debuted it at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles and a select other places like the Japan Pavilion at Epcot in Orlando. 

The cold cap melts into the beer, but isn't supposed to water the brew down.

But how does it taste? The folks at Food Beast went over to Dodger Stadium to have a taste. While they say it didn't really taste like anything, it did keep the beer cold for about 30 minutes during a hot summer day.  Worth $10 a pop?

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FOXNews.com: Is Coke the same as it was 127 years ago? Maybe

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Is Coke the same as it was 127 years ago? Maybe
Aug 26th 2013, 15:16

ATLANTA –  Coca-Cola keeps the recipe for its 127-year-old soda inside an imposing steel vault that's bathed in red security lights. Several cameras monitor the area to make sure the fizzy formula stays a secret.

But in one of the many signs that the surveillance is as much about theater as reality, the images that pop up on video screens are of smiling tourists waving at themselves.

"It's almost this mythological thing, the secret formula."

- John Ruff, president of Institute of Food Technologists

"It's a little bit for show," concedes a guard at the World of Coca-Cola museum in downtown Atlanta, where the vault is revealed at the end of an exhibit in a puff of smoke.

The ability to push a quaint narrative about a product's origins and fuel a sense of nostalgia can help drive billions of dollars in sales. That's invaluable at a time when food makers face greater competition from smaller players and cheaper supermarket store brands that appeal to cash-strapped Americans.

It's why companies such as Coca-Cola and Twinkies' owner Hostess play up the notion that their recipes are sacred, unchanging documents that need to be closely guarded. As it turns out, some recipes have changed over time, while others may not have. Either way, they all stick to the same script that their formulas have remained the same.

John Ruff, who formerly headed research & development at Kraft Foods, said companies often recalibrate ingredients for various reasons, including new regulations, fluctuations in commodity costs and other issues that impact mass food production.

"It's almost this mythological thing, the secret formula," said the president of the Institute of Food Technologists, which studies the science of food. "I would be amazed if formulas (for big brands) haven't changed."

This summer, the Twinkies cream-filled cakes many Americans grew up snacking on made a comeback after being off shelves for about nine months following the bankruptcy of Hostess Brands. At the time, the new owners promised the spongy yellow cakes would taste just like people remember.

A representative for Hostess, Hannah Arnold, said in an email that Twinkies today are "remarkably close to the original recipe," noting that the first three ingredients are still enriched flour, water and sugar.

Yet a box of Twinkies now lists more than 25 ingredients and has a shelf-life of 45 days, almost three weeks longer than the 26 days from just a year ago. That suggests the ingredients have been tinkered with, to say the least, since they were created in 1930.

"When Twinkies first came out they were largely made from fresh ingredients," notes Steve Ettlinger, author of "Twinkie, Deconstructed," which traced the roots of the cake's many modern-day industrial ingredients.

For its part, KFC says it still strictly follows the recipe created in 1940 by its famously bearded founder, Colonel Harland Sanders. The chain understood the power of marketing early on, with Sanders originally dying his beard white to achieve a more grandfatherly look.

Fast forward to 2009, when KFC decided the security for the handwritten copy of the recipe needed a flashy upgrade. It installed a 770-pound safe that is under constant video and motion-detection surveillance and surrounded by two feet of concrete on every side — just in case any would-be thieves try to dig a tunnel to get it.

"Like something out of a Hollywood movie," a press release from KFC trumpeted at the time.

KFC may very well be following the basic instructions of the recipe encased in the vault. But the fanfare around its founder's instructions is despite his disapproval of the new owners of the chain after he sold his stake in the company in 1964. In his book, for example, Wendy's founder Dave Thomas, a friend of Sanders', recounts how the colonel was annoyed because they came up with a simpler way to drain grease off the chicken by dumping it onto wire racks, rather than ladling the grease off by hand. Sanders apparently hated the new system because it bruised the chicken.

According to the book, Sanders was afraid the new owners would ruin the chicken because he said they "didn't know a drumstick from a pig's ear."

A KFC spokesman, Rick Maynard, said the issue over the grease was indicative of Sanders' hands-on approach even after selling the business. Maynard said the important parts of the recipe are the seasoning, using fresh chicken on the bone, hand breading according to standards and frying under pressure. As for the chain's recently introduced boneless Original Recipe chicken, he said it uses the recipe's seasoning.

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, the nation's No. 1 and 2 soda makers, respectively, also are known for touting the roots of their recipes.

In the book "Secret Formula," which was published in 1994 and drew from interviews with former executives and access to Coca-Cola's corporate archives, reporter Frederick Allen noted that multiple changes were made to the formula over the years. For instance, Allen noted that that the soda once contained trace amounts of cocaine as a result of the coca leaves in the ingredients, as well as four times the amount of caffeine.

In an emailed statement, Coca-Cola said its secret formula has remained the same since it was invented in 1886 and that cocaine has "never been an added ingredient" in its soda.

It's a line that's familiar to Terry Parham, a retired special agent for the Drug Enforcement Agency. After the agency opened its museum in Arlington, Va. in the late 1990s, Parham, who was working in the press office at the time, recalled in a recent interview with the Associated Press that a Coca-Cola representative called to complain about an exhibit that noted the soda once contained cocaine. The exhibit stayed and Parham said the DEA didn't hear back from the company.

PepsiCo also celebrates its origins and in the past two years held its annual shareholders meeting in New Bern, N.C., where Caleb Bradham is said to have created the company's flagship soda in the late 1890s. But the formula for Pepsi was changed to make it sweeter in 1931 by the company's new owner, who didn't like the taste.

In the 1980s, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo both switched from sugar to high-fructose corn syrup, a cheaper sweetener. The companies last year also said they'd change the way they make the caramel coloring used in their sodas to avoid having to put a cancer warning label on their drinks in California, where a new law required such labels for foods containing a certain level of carcinogens.

Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo say the sweetener and caramel sources do not alter the basic formulas or taste for their sodas. And they continue to hype up the enduring quality of their recipes.

This past spring, for example, Coca-Cola welcomed the widespread news coverage of a Georgia man who claimed to have found a copy of the soda's formula and tried to sell it on eBay. The company saw the fanfare as evidence of the public's fascination with its formula, and eagerly offered to make its corporate historian available for interviews to fuel the media attention.

Likewise, the company is happy to reminisce about the backlash provoked by the introduction of New Coke in 1985. The sweeter formula was a marketed as an improved replacement for the flagship soda, and the company points to the outrage that ensued as proof of how much people love the original. According to the emailed statement from Coca-Cola, that's the only time the company ever tried changing its formula.

The loyalty to that narrative is on full display at the World of Coca-Cola, where visitors mill about in a darkened exhibit devoted to myths surrounding the soda's formula. Tabloid-style headlines are splashed across the walls and whispers play on a recorded loop:

"Even if you could see the formula, you wouldn't understand it!" a voice says. "It's the greatest mystery of all time!" says another.

The museum gets about a million visitors a year, with a plaque at the end of one exhibit stating "Keeping the Secret Ensures That the Magic Lives On." But on a recent summer afternoon, at least one of them wasn't impressed.

"This part's boring," a small boy declared.

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Follow Candice Choi at www.twitter.com/candicechoi

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