A war of words between Republican vice president nominee JD Vance and Democratic governor Andy Beshear of Kentucky has not surprisingly taken a turn into soda segment, given cultural significance of fizzy refreshers in Appalachian region. There's been an edge to the exchanges considering that the 2 politicos may find themselves going head to head if Beshear is anointed Kamala Harris' running mate, as some are predicting. Vance, the Ivy-League-educated, Silicon Valley investor who wrote Hillbilly Elegy, has been strenuously trying to demonstrate his authentic roots in region, throwing out signifiers like his allegiance to Diet Mtn Dew.

Last month we picked up story outlining how allegiance to raw milk has become another element of culture wars sweeping America, despite warnings from health experts of its risks (BBI, Jul 2). As of late Jul, it turns out, some 171 consumers have been sickened by salmonella outbreak traced to their purchases of unpasteurized milk from Fresno, Calif, co called Raw Farm that previously did biz as Organic Pastures. Per NY Times report, 171 people were sickened and 22 hospitalized from Sep 2023 to Mar 2024 in largest recorded outbreak of connected to unpasteurized milk in more than 2 decades. The magnitude of the illnesses had only come to light when data was released to Food Safety News publication by Calif Div of Communicable Disease Control and Calif Dept of Health in Jul. At that time, the tally was at 165. "It is beyond me to comprehend why public health would remain mute in the face of at least 165 sick, 20 hospitalized and 40% of the ill 5 years or younger," inveighed publication's editor Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety attorney. With a nod at cultural war going on on that subject, he added, "Setting aside the 'food freedom' argument for a moment that people should be able to eat or drink what they want and feed their kids the same; what about simply informing the public of the facts and letting the public decide for themselves?"

Netherlands-based bev distributor who's allied with I Am Food & Bev is hoping to bring a new take on soda to American palates under name Pariba Sparkling. Martijn Meens, who's built successful distribution operation moving brands like So Delicious, AriZona and Evian, was working I Am booth at recent Fancy Food Show in NY pushing sucralose-sweetened, zero-sugar line in conventional 12-oz cans initially in Cream Soda, Cherry Vanilla and Tropical Vanilla flavors. Like I Am, he's partnered with NJ-based Cascadia Managing Brands to orchestrate US buildout for brand that's established by now in Netherlands, Spain and Italy. Like I Am principals, Martin's based in The Hague. Targeting US price point of $2.49, he'll ride the nascent distribution network that Cascadia is developing for I Am, which just landed its own I Am Superjuice into US after debuting it at Expo West earlier this year (BBI, Mar 25). As we profiled then, I Am operators are Dutch entrepreneurs mainly of Suriname descent who've been developing broad range of bev items under names I Am Supersoda, I Am Superjuice and I Am Superwater, along with food items such as chutneys and Suriname-inspired sauces.

Any room for confusion or lack of clarity around how Iowa will regulate consumable hemp products went up in smoke when the state's Dept of Health & Human Services published their final rules on Jul 17, a fed judge in the state ruled late last week. Or, as they put it: "the issue of vagueness…changed significantly" and "the statutory gaps that were identified previously are no longer extant." For the 2nd time this mo, the judge denied a request by a pair of hemp-derived THC bev makers, Climbing Kites (Big Grove Brewing) and Field Day Brewing, for a preliminary injunction to block the implementation of the state's new law. With rules finalized, "there is no longer a viable argument that 'serving'...is an unconstitutionally vague term," the judge confirmed.

Boston Beer execs addressed tuffer Q2 results head on thruout earnings call late last week, pointing to several reasons why co expects to get back on track in 2d half of 2024 and beyond. Co expects 2d half results to "look more like Q1" and "less like Q2" as it addresses supply/inventory issues and hones on what's workin', noted cfo Diego Reynoso. Co's mktg spend is weighted toward the 2d half, expected to grow vs yr ago, with particular focus on growth brands Twisted Tea, Sun Cruiser and Hard MTN Dew (amid transition from Blue Cloud to Boston's distrib network nationally), said ceo Michael Spillane. Twisted Tea trend "particularly" picked back up after slower start to the qtr in Apr and co expects to win back shelf space from long tail of hard tea brands by next spring as retailers are likely to "prune" underperforming hard teas "more quickly" than they did with hard seltzer, said chairman Jim Koch. Co still sees upside on core Twisted flavors and continues to shoutout Twisted Tea Light and Twisted Extreme as highly incremental.

The latest twist in Oregon's ongoing tax-related saga resurrects the familiar trope of Big Alcohol allegedly meddling in science and policy-making to further complicate an already messy situation. The Oregon Health Authority chose not to publish a 2021 report because a researcher at the CDC questioned the reports findings, not because the report contradicted the OHA's stance on alcohol taxes, the Willamette Week reported this week. The CDC's Dr Marissa Esser raised "many questions" and "some concerns" about the report's use of studies "of questionable scientific quality" in an early 2022 email, the paper wrote.

A bipartisan group of Congresspeople kept up the pressure on administration officials, seeking more information about the formation and proceedings of a panel of researchers formed by the Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD). About two dozen US House reps pressed for answers from NIAAA director Dr George Koob about the panel and its contributions to the process for building the next edition of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA). In a letter earlier this month, they posed some of the most pointed questions yet about this work. Its parting shot: "Is there any reason that members of Congress should not believe ICCPUD participants have already formed an opinion and are working towards a predetermined result?" (A version of this article appeared in sibling pub INSIGHTS Express earlier this week.)