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7-Eleven is introducing a new low-calorie, sugar-free Slurpee at its stores nationwide this week. The offering targets women in their 20s who have bought into the whole "skinny girl" hoopla.

Right off the bat, we see a couple of problems with this move. One, we weren't aware that anyone over the age of 12 drank Slurpees. Two, at 66 calories for an 8-oz. size (about the caloric equivalent of four Saltine crackers), regular Slurpees weren't exactly liquid mac-n-cheese. The new low-cal option will contain just 20 calories, about the same as a carrot. (If you pick up a Slim Jim or some Jolly Ranchers to go with that Slurpee Lite, you are screwed.)

Because the new Slurpee Lite is made with Splenda instead of sugar, it could be a viable option for diabetics; however, they are not 7-Eleven's target audience, and, come to think of it, we've never heard our diabetic maiden aunt bemoaning the fact that she is Slurpee-deprived.

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Sugary sodas are an American tradition

Three out of five California voters would support a special tax on soda and soft drinks to fight childhood obesity, according to a new Field Poll.

New data collected as part of the Field-The California Endowment Childhood Obesity Prevention Survey found that 48% of participants cited unhealthy eating habits and lack of exercise as the primary health concern facing children -- an increase from 35% in 2003.

This opinion crossed all major segments of the voter population, including voters in all parties and across all demographic and regional subdivisions, although parents with children under age 18 were among the most likely to feel this way. The researchers found that 62% of voters would support a tax on soda as one way to combat the fat-kid issue. Of that 62%, 45% support the idea "strongly."

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Flickr/manwithface

Americans love their orange juice.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is looking into banning all orange juice imports from Brazil after an illegal fungicide was found in a sample, Reuters reports. Brazil is the world's top grower of oranges for juice, accounting for more than 10% of the U.S. supply. About half of the orange juice imported into the U.S. comes from the South American country.

The pesticide, carbendazim, is banned in U.S. citrus but is used on orange trees in Brazil to fight mold. According to the agency, a U.S. juice producer detected low levels of carbendazim in orange juice concentrate imported from Brazil. The FDA said low levels of carbendazim were not dangerous and the agency had no plans for a recall. However, the agency said it would stop any shipments of orange juice at the border that test positive for the fungicide.

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jgarbee

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout And Black Lager

We've been hearing a lot about Guinness' new release, a shift into the realm of black lagers (historically known as German schwarzbier) that have been the microbrew buzz recently for their light body (like a lager) yet full-on dark stout flavor. But when we stopped by Wine Expo to pick up a bottle for a taste, resident beer and tequila expert Erik Moreno had some more interesting bottles on the shelves.

"This is what you're not hearing as much about with Guinness," he says, pointing us to a 4-pack of "Foreign Extra" Stout. "They released it five or so months ago more quietly, they're not really pushing it. This is the real deal. The stout is brewed in Ireland, not Canada like most of the Guinness here. My distributor kept telling me about the Black Lager, but I kept asking him about this -- he finally got it for me."

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Coco Cafe

In interesting drink fusion news, a pair of Venice Beach roommates just launched Coco Cafe -- a coconut water-based coffee beverage. Elan Eifer and Brian McCaslin, who became roommates when they met on Craigslist, took Eifer's habit of mixing coconut water with his morning coffee to a new level and gave the world Coco Cafe. The line of coconut and coffee product offers a Cafe Latte drink (coco, espresso, milk). The drinks drew enough attention to be picked up by Whole Foods Market and 200 other stores. We haven't tried Coco Cafe yet, but in the age of coffee and beverage crazes, anything goes.

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Source images from arkaybeverages.com

Whiskaaay! Can and bottle not to scale

Update: 11/21, 1:35 p.m. Arkay's November 1 press release claiming it received halal-certification from the Islamic Food & Nutrition Council of America was strongly refuted by that certifying organization.

IFANCA issued its own release and warns "all halal consumers, retailers and distributors. As with any company making halal claims, it is every person's right to ask ArKay Beverages to produce their halal certificate."

The original piece, published November 17, appears below.

You aficionados who know the difference between "whisky" and "whiskey" may want to come up with an alternate spelling for ArKay, the first non-alcoholic whisKay. Whiskaaay. Yeah, that's it.

Here's how the company pitches it on their website:

ArKay, the world`s first alcohol free whisky flavored drink is designed for the socialite to the construction worker. The exceptional taste of whisky without the alcohol making a perfect beverage that anyone can consume.

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The Three Clubs

It's spicy, it's smashing and it very well could get you smashed. The Three Clubs in Hollywood, made famous by the movie Swingers, has rolled out some fancy new cocktails created by mixologist Joel Black. One of his most popular new drinks is the savory Pepper Smash ($12), which contains lemon, honey, basil, red bell pepper and whiskey. (With its whiskey base, it's traditionally more of a dude's drink, unless you have a name like Calamity Jane.)

"The Pepper Smash is a cocktail very near and dear to me," Black tells us. "It's one of the first savory cocktails I created, and the recipe has transitioned over the years as I have grown as a mixologist."

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12 Noon to Midnight: Be afraid. Be very afraid.

When a libation comes along trying so desperately to be chic and using more food-industry clichés than the most purple press release, we have to give it a shot. 12 Noon to Midnight (or 12NtM as the kid's aren't calling it) is "all natural," "chef crafted" and "a signature part of your lifestyle." Okay, but what is it? A fizzy non-alcoholic drink meant to be sipped, but only between noon and midnight, at brunches and sophisticated cocktail parties. Made from a "blend of herbs, spices, fruit juices and organic teas," it sounds like an 8-year-old's idea of a grown-up drink. Just throw everything in! With no commitment to any flavor profile whatsoever, 12 Noon to Midnight achieves a rare simultaneous feat: it's noxious yet utterly bland. Like Fresca with bathroom cleanser.

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Phusion Projects

There's a reason there's "Four" in the name, and it isn't for four healthy vitamins and minerals. A 23 ½-oz. can of the drink Four Loko contains the alcohol equivalent of 4 ½ beers. Now the label will say so, after Phusion Projects, maker of the "blackout in a can," reached an agreement with the Federal Trade Commission, which calls the drink "a supersized, high-alcohol, fruit-flavored, carbonated malt beverage." Current packaging that compares each can to one or two 12-oz. beers will be changed under the U.S. government settlement, Reuters reports.

Phusion had also claimed that a consumer could drink an entire can safely at "a single occasion." The new beverage containers will be resealable so as to give the drinker the idea that it's OK to save some for later. Though few will. The new containers will be on (college dorm room) shelves by late spring.

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Flickr/Dominic's pics

Regular tea and coffee drinkers might be less likely to carry the antibiotic-resistant "superbug" MRSA in their nostrils, according to a new study reported by Reuters.

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston found that of more than 5,500 Americans tested, those who drank hot tea or coffee were about half as likely as non-drinkers to harbor methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in their noses. MRSA is a type of bacteria that causes nasty staph infections that are resistant to common antibiotics. Sometimes the infections, which are becoming more common in hospitals and prisons, prove fatal. In 2005, MRSA caused severe infections in 95,000 Americans, killing nearly 19,000.

About 1 percent of the population carries MRSA on their skin or in their noses but usually doesn't get sick.

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