Self-heating drinks the next big thing?
Filed under: Food
Imagine being able to heat your coffee anywhere in the world without a microwave or coffee pot or other gadget for heating. Does that sound ideal? It does to me!Lakeside Foods in rural Wisconsin has created packaging for liquids that allows users to heat them with a push of a button. They call the drinks self-heating, and the heating process is fueled by calcium oxide, also known as quicklime. The drinks stay warm for about 30 minutes using this process.
Of course, safety is a concern with this product, and an earlier generation product was plagued by consumer complaints of overheating and bursting containers. The company redid the container and there apparently haven't been problems with them since the redesign.
I love the idea of a hot drink on the go without the need for a traditional heating source. The products are currently found in Wal-Marts across the country, and will be more heavily marketed in the fall. Sporting goods stores are carrying the drinks too, as they appeal to those doing activities outdoors without access to a kitchen. You have your choice of 4 latte flavors and 2 hot cocoa varieties. Yum!
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-08-2008 @ 11:05AM
Ed J said...
Self heating has been around for 20-30 years. I bought shaving cream for years that was self heating andalways wondered why it never gained popularity.
Reply
9-08-2008 @ 1:35PM
Professor Bates said...
Can they cool stuff off too? ...like soda pop that gets icy cold with the push of a button.
Reply
9-14-2008 @ 2:57PM
diann said...
I have had these drinks before, hot chocolate, my sister has had the coffee ones. They are really good and they get really hot too. It would be neat to have some that get cold too like someone above suggested but I haven't seen them yet.
Reply
9-14-2008 @ 3:02PM
diane said...
I have bought these for the car when we are out in the winter guess what, the pop top that you have to remove to push the button breaks off almost every time . make sure to have something to manually remove the bottom lid.
Reply
9-14-2008 @ 3:28PM
Carole said...
The article doesn't say how "green" the product is, what is it's life span once we've finished the "automatic" drink and disposed of it? How long does it take to going back to the earth? Interesting thought since we really need to try taking care of our earth instead of being on the bandwagon to make everything "easier" for people. Anyone seen Wall-E, our future is dismal if we don't start thinking or the earth. JMO
Reply
9-14-2008 @ 4:47PM
JMK said...
The military have used this process for years without problem if used as directed.
Reply
9-14-2008 @ 9:12PM
kedra said...
I bought one of these because i thought it was super cool but it never heated up!
Reply