Limited Edition Foods

A few months ago Shrek the Third invaded movie theaters, bringing a stampede of limited edition food products to stores along the way. Everything, even Snickers “nougat” turned green for a few weeks last summer it seemed. Check out this funny You Tube video from product developer Mike Mozart who reviews many of the Shrek limited edition foods, and is actually brave enough to try the limited edition Cheetos that claimed to turn consumers’ tongues green. The Shrek the Third DVD hits stores November 13.

Shrek, DVD, limited edition, Cheetos, Snickers, You Tube

Pizza seems so simple. Bread, sauce, the toppings of your choice. And yet this staple of the American diet lies in the center of one of the touchiest food policy issues of the new century.

That’s because the federal regulations of America’s food supply is currently filled with bizarre overlaps and loopholes, and pizza provides the best illustration of how strange those food regulations can be:

If you have meat on your pizza, it is governed by the USDA.
If you have a pizza without meat, it is governed by the FDA.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the federal Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are two separate entities, each with their own laws, regulations, handbooks, edicts, employees, and lawyers who interpret all of these things in a variety of ways. They report to different cabinet secretaries, and have different benchmarks for success. Even the federally mandated purposes of these two agencies are fundamentally different, as USDA was originally created to help promote the consumption of domestic agriculture products and FDA was created to promote food safety after the outcry that followed the muckraking novel The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.

And yet you can take two pizzas that are made in the same factory, by the same company, using the same base ingredients, placed in the same type of packaging, shipped on the same truck, to the same store, and displayed in the same frozen food case … and they are regulated by two vastly different federal agencies.

This is not only frustrating and inefficient, but it is also frightening. We often hear that America has the safest food supply in the world, but the reality is that is just a saying … like the admonishment to drink eight glasses of water a day, no one knows where that bit of conventional wisdom comes from and when placed under a microscope it does not stack up to reality.

The reality is that our food regulations are much more permissive than people realize, and America does not have the safest food supply in the world. The fact that we do not have a unified food agency that oversees everything related to the nation’s food and fiber makes it easy for many issues to slip through the cracks. Even the Department of Homeland Security wants a unified food agency, as it makes it easier to protect the nation’s food supply from bioterrorism.

And yet, resistance to this pragmatic idea is so high amongst bureaucrats, food manufacturers, and lobbyists that a unified food agency seems like an impossible dream. Bureaucrats who have spent their lives accumulating power and knowledge about their agency are extremely resistant to giving up their turf. And food manufacturers have learned to survive the fractured environment and take advantage of the existing loopholes are worried that retooling the nation’s food regulations would cost their companies time and expensive changes. So consumers continue to be exposed to more costs and increased risks while an expensive turf war continues as various special interests continue to prolong the obvious.

So the next time you eat a slice of pizza, take a moment to contemplate how this iconic American food symbolizes a public policy firestorm … and the vulnerability of the American food supply.

pizza, USDA, FDA, United States, America, food supply, regulation, food agency

Absolut Vodka has created a sexy and trendy brand identity, but even Absolut should consider it a coup to capture a branding partnership with platinum hitmakers Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. The vodka recently partnered with the seemingly unstoppable duo on “Ayo Technology,” a song that is on 50 Cent’s album Curtis, which was released on September 11, 2007 but it is just now getting wide radio play in September.

To promote his partnership with Absolut 100, 50 Cent hosted a party with the vodka that centered around the MTV VMAs (Video Music Awards) in September. Held at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, the party attracted Sean “Diddy” Combs, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Ciara, and boxer/Dancing With the Stars contender Floyd Mayweather.

According to the Absolut website, the Absolut 100 is fifty percent alcohol and is targeted primarily at male consumers. The chic and minimalist black bottle combines with the theme of the song (”She wants it … I gotta give it to her”) to create an aura of confidence for the affluent male consumer.

Absolut would like to mention that the high alcohol content does not confine Absolut 100 to being a simple shooter, however. The Absolut bartenders have created a few recipes designed to maximize the versatility of this extremely potent spirit, and they are available here.

Absolut, vodka, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, 50 Cent, Curtis, Ayo Technology, song

This year marks the 80th anniversary of Pez, the candy that started as a mint and transformed itself into a sugary pop culture staple. To help Pez collector’s celebrate this anniversary, we are dedicating the Classic Food Friday post to the wonder that is Pez.

Pez was invented in 1927 in Austria as an adult peppermint, and its name is short for pfefferminz which is the German word for peppermint. The creator of Pez quickly expanded the marketing for Pez to advocate sucking on the candies as an alternative to smoking. This seems fairly prophetic, since billions of dollars are now spent on products that claim to help people stop smoking, and only adds to the mysterious aura of Pez.

Perhaps even more famous than the Pez candies are the Pez dispensers, which started as a hygienic way to carry mints and morphed into collector’s items that fascinate consumers the world over. To date approximately 300 different Pez dispensers have been created, and there are avid collectors who have books and conventions on the subject of collecting said dispensers of Pez. At any given time you can find fanatical Pez dispenser trading on Ebay, which has seen a Pez dispenser sell for over $30,000.00 USD. There is even an auction site to help you track your Pez auctions called AuctionPez.com.

If you can’t find what you like in the official Pez dispenser collector community, there is a counterfeit Pez dispenser community that trades “fantasy Pez” dispensers. Basically Pez obsessed folks create Pez-like dispensers for their favorite pop culture icons and then sell them to others. After 80 years in the cut throat candy business, Pez is still going strong.

Pez, Pillsbury Doughboy, Kiss, dispensers, Austria, mints, smoking, collector

Autumn brings back the Goose Island Harvest Ale, a seasonal beer that is available as a limited edition ale in September and October. Unlike the pumpkin beers that are so popular this time of year, or the newer apple flavors, Goose Island’s fall offering is a tasty traditional pale ale that has gotten solid reviews from beer sites such as Beer Advocate.

Based on reviews the Harvest Ale has enough hops to please the beer snobs and apparently tastes good enough to hold off the wrath of folks who were sad to see Goose Island’s Oktoberfest retire for the year.

Goose Island is an Illinois brewery that introduces several seasonal and limited edition beers throughout the year. Next on the calendar is the Christmas Ale, which will be in stores from November to January.

The Christmas Ale is a dark English Style ale with a strong flavor. While the Christmas Ale also got good reviews from Beer Advocate, but some people found the flavor unappetizing.

Goose Island, Harvest Ale, October, seasonal, limited edition, beer

Edy’s has brought back its limited edition Peppermint Ice Cream for the holidays, and the refreshing flavor will be in stores through December. Available in a slow churned light version as well as the traditional ice cream style, the Peppermint flavor is a companion to Edy’s autumn limited edition flavors Pumpkin and Apple Pie.

The strong flavor and holiday spirit of the ice cream makes it the ideal choice for an easy dessert after a holiday dinner party. Edy’s has also released several holiday recipes that use the Peppermint Ice Cream, including a Peppermintini, Peppermint Cupcakes, and this very festive looking Peppermint Pie.

Peppermint Pie

20 chocolate cookies
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 carton Edy’s® Slow Churned® Light Peppermint Ice Cream or Edy’s® Limited Edition Peppermint Frozen Dairy Dessert
1 (8-ounce) container whipped topping
Small candy canes, as needed
Chocolate syrup or hot fudge sauce, as needed

In food processor, crush cookies into fine crumbs. In mixing bowl, stir together cookie crumbs and butter. With your fingers, press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom and sides of 9-inch pie pan. Place in freezer about 15 minutes or until firm. (You can also use store bought cookie crust if you would like to skip the crust making portion of this recipe.)

Meanwhile, place the Dreyer’s carton in refrigerator for about 15 minutes to soften. Scoop softened Peppermint into hardened crust and spread evenly with spatula. Pipe or spoon whipped topping around border of pie. Arrange small candy canes on top of pie. Place pie in freezer for several hours or until firm.

To serve, cut pie into eight wedges. Place each wedge on a dessert plate and drizzle with chocolate syrup or hot fudge sauce, if desired.

Peppermint Cupcake

1 box vanilla cake mix or devil’s food cake mix
1 cup vanilla frosting or chocolate frosting
Decorating sprinkles or crushed candy canes
1 carton Edy’s® Slow Churned® Light Peppermint Ice Cream or Edy’s® Limited Edition Peppermint Frozen Dairy Dessert

Line muffin tins with 18 paper muffin cups. Prepare cake batter according to package directions; spoon into muffin cups. Bake at 350°F about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cupcakes comes out clean. Cool completely.

Cut off tops of cupcakes. With small spatula, spread frosting on tops; decorate with sprinkles or crushed candy canes. With spoon, scoop out insides of cupcake bottoms to form shells. Put a scoop of Peppermint into each cupcake. Place tops back on cupcakes at a slight angle. Serve immediately or place in freezer until needed.

Peppermintini

1/2 cup coarse sugar crystals (available in the supermarket cake decoration aisle)
1/4 cup chocolate syrup
4 (1/4-cup) scoops Edy’s® Slow Churned® Light Peppermint Ice Cream or Edy’s® Limited Edition Peppermint Frozen Dairy Dessert
4 ounces white crème de cacao, chilled*
4 ounces vodka or gin, chilled*
4 chocolate-dipped thin peppermint sticks

In the freezer, chill 4 martini glasses. Place sugar crystals in shallow bowl; fill second bowl with water to a depth of about 1/4 inch. Dip the rim of each glass in water, then in sugar crystals. On the inside of each glass, draw a spiral with 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup. Place glasses back in freezer while preparing Peppermintini. In blender, blend together ice cream, crème de cacao and gin. Carefully pour into prepared glasses, dividing mixture equally. Garnish each glass with 1 peppermint stick. Serve immediately.

* To make a delicious non-alcoholic Peppermintini, replace the crème de cacao with 4 ounces white chocolate syrup, and replace the gin or vodka with 4 ounces ginger ale or sparkling water.

Peppermint, cupcakes, cake, martini, ice cream, limited edition, creme de cacao, Edys

In an autumn season that is overflowing with pumpkin beers, Leinenkugel’s has broken away from the pumpkin pack and introduced an Apple Spice seasonal flavor.

Leinenkugel’s is a northern brewery that is slowly making its way south, distribution wise, and while northerners view it as a classic brew staple in recent years “Leinie’s” has gotten quite a reputation for its strong fruit flavors. If you happen to stumble upon a six pack of its Sunset Wheat flavor still on the shelves this fall, be aware that it will taste almost exactly like a blueberry muffin. Similarly, Leinie’s Summer Shandy flavor tastes more like alcoholic lemonade than any of the hard lemonade versions produced by malt liquor king Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

The Apple Spice flavor seems similarly strong in fruit flavors, as the company claims it includes 2000 apples in each batch. The recipe for Leinenkugel’s Apple Spice also includes Wisconsin honey and plenty of cinnamon.

This is a beer brewed for cold weather, and according to the brewery it will be on the market through December. Suggestions for using the Apple Spice brew to warm up on a cold night include heating it up and serving it with a cinnamon stick garnish (just like apple cider), or mixing it with a creamy stout for a celebratory feel during the winter holidays.

This is not the first year for Apple Spice to be on the market, and past reviews indicate that if you like the strong flavor of the British alcoholic ciders then you will like Leinie’s Apple Spice. Have you tried it? If so post a comment below and let us know what you think!

Leinenkugel, beer, apple, pumpkin, brew, blueberry, lemon

There are few things I love more than chocolate covered pretzels, so I was excited to see that Pennsylvania’s Turkey Hill Dairy has released a limited edition Chocolate Pretzel ice cream. The new flavor is part of Turkey Hill’s Creamy Commotions line, the same line that featured the Tasty Kake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake Ice Cream earlier this year.

The Chocolate Pretzel ice cream flavor has a vanilla ice cream base with chocolate covered pretzels and fudge swirls, which Fred from Two Dips Ice Cream Tasters described as tasting like “vanilla swirl ice cream with a surprise.” Sounds yummy, but Turkey Hill only sells the ice cream in regional grocery stores or over the internet.

If you are a Turkey Hill fan, or you are going to a food themed costume party this Halloween, be sure to check out Turkey Hill’s blog which includes everything from ice cream recipes to ice cream themed Halloween costume suggestions.

Snyders, pretzel, ice cream, limited edition, chocolate, vanilla, Halloween, costume, recipe

We talk a lot about obesity these days, so it is odd to think that it was only a few decades ago that a MoonPie and a Coke was an acceptable lunch. The thick and filling MoonPie is a Southern classic that was actually considered to be a meal way back when.

Check out the MoonPie website for the sweet and silly stories that won the “My Favorite MoonPie Memory” contest. The various stories feature a MoonPie proposal and a ninety-five year old memory of buying a MoonPie and a Coke for a nickel.

My favorite MoonPie memory took place on a beach in Southern Mississippi many years ago, at a conference that was sponsored by MoonPie. In the wee small hours of the morning after the awards banquet everybody there ended on the beach looking at the water and somehow that turned into a MoonPie fight. Lots of laughter followed, but a word to the wise for anyone thinking about trying it … those things are thick and they hurt. It was a hell of a lot of fun though.

MoonPie, Coke, obesity, South, lunch

Jones Soda has a new limited edition flavor pack with a bottle that literally tastes like Dirt. And another that tastes like Sports Creme. And another that tastes like Natural Field Turf. And best of all, one that tastes like Perspiration. Or if none of those sound appetizing, there is the berry flavored Sweet Victory.

The sodas were created to celebrate the company’s love of football and particularly of the Seattle Seahawks.

“Throughout their career, the average NFL player will spend 2 years of their life in the gym, eat 3 pounds of dirt and perspire 10,000 gallons of sweat. These players must withstand incredibly tough conditions to be ready for every game, which is why we thought we’d bring the fans the full experience in a bottle,” says Peter van Stolk, President & C.E.O of Jones Soda. “Now, you can enjoy all the sweat and dirt an NFL player experiences, along with the ultimate taste of Sweet Victory.”

While the sodas were technically only available the last week of September, limited quantities are still available — with some searching — online. Other sodas are available through October in more traditional flavors but featuring Seattle Seahawks players Deion Branch and Walter Jones. A third packaging option features Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, husband of The View host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Jones Soda is known for creating unusual limited edition flavors. They currently have another limited edition pack on the market for Halloween, featuring Black Cat Licorice and other interesting flavors for your upcoming costume party.

Jones Soda, Seattle Seahawks, soda, Deion Branch, Walter Jones, NFL, football, perspiration, dirt, Matt Hasselbeck, Elisabeth Hasselbeck