NEWS: Oberto Jerks on the Chain That Is Pulling the Bacon Bandwagon Forward With Their Upcoming Bacon Jerky

According to the Candy and Snack Today blog, sausage and chewy meat maker Oberto will start selling bacon jerky early next year. The company introduced the new product at the recent National Association of Convenient Stores Show, which sounds like the Super Bowl for junk food reviewers like myself.

Oberto isn’t the first company to produce bacon jerky, many companies have beat them to it, but they will be the biggest jerky company to offer it. The Candy and Snack Today post reports Oberto’s bacon jerky will be made using real bacon, contain no preservatives, and have 20 percent less fat than pan-fried bacon.

Well, I guess late to the bacon party is better than never. Although, pigs probably disagree with that.

NEWS: Stay Hydrated and Awake With Rockstar Energy Water

This week, Rockstar Energy showed off at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Show a new line of energy water. Rockstar Energy Water is sugar free, has zero calories, contains 125 milligrams of caffeine per bottle, and will be available in three flavors — Tropical Citrus, Orange Tangerine, and Blueberry Pomegranate Acai.

Beverage Digest posted an image of all three flavors on Twitter.

BevNet has more information about the Rockstar Energy Water line.

This isn’t the first time Rockstar has entered the enhanced water waters. After doing a little research on Google, it turns out Rockstar sold a line of energy water in Australia, which appears to have been discontinued in 2010 or 2011.

When will it be available? Rockstar isn’t saying, but a better question to ask about Rockstar products would be, “When is Rockstar Energy going to make a beverage fit for a rockstar, like energy Champagne?”

Source: BevNet

SPOTTED ON SHELVES – 10/10/2012

Here are some new products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. We may or may not review them, but we’d like to let you know what new items are popping up. We’ll also occasionally throw in an unusual product.

Herr's Deep Dish Pizza

We don’t have Herr’s snacks here on this rock in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but I hear they’re really good at replicating junk food flavors in their junk food. If only these Herr’s Deep Dish Pizza Flavored Cheese Curls could imitate the messiness of a deep dish pizza, forcing me to eat them with a fork. Dave’s Cupboard reviewed these cheese curls. (Thanks for the photos, Adam!)

Fun da-middles Cookies and Cream

Betty Crocker has a new Fun Da-Middles flavor for me to not bake. (Thanks for the photos, Kenneth!)

Prego Bacon & Provolone

Ugh. Enough with the provolone. It’s in our sandwiches and lasagnas. And it’s on top of our pizzas and salads. I’m getting sick of seeing provolone everywhere. Let’s stop with our fascination with provolone. (Thanks for the photos, Lauren!)

Confetti Cupcake Pop-Tarts

I’ll bet you a box of Pop-Tarts that these new Confetti Cupcake Pop-Tarts taste exactly like these Confetti Cake Pop-Tarts.

Coppertone Sport Duraflex

Maybe it’s just me, but Duraflex really sounds more like a condom feature than a spray-on sunscreen feature.

If you’re out shopping and see a new product on the shelf (or really unusual), snap a picture of it, email it to us at [email protected] with “Spotted” in the subject line, and you might see it in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

NEWS: Starbucks Gives Us Another Way To Get Their Pumpkin Spice Latte Into Our Bodies With Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Lattes are yummy.

I think millions of people would nod their heads in agreement with that statement above. So it’s kind of puzzling that Starbucks’ new Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream, which combines coffee and pumpkin spice ice creams, didn’t come out sooner. The Unilever-made Starbucks ice cream has been available since 2009, but only now Starbucks’ most popular seasonal flavor has an ice cream?

That, my friends, is wrong. But I’m glad that error has been corrected.

Holy hell! Do you know what would be awesome? If Starbucks allowed us to replace the milk in their Pumpkin Spice Latte with melted Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream.

That would be sweet!

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream will be sold in pints for a suggested retail price of $3.99. They’ll be available starting November 1 and remain on store shelves until February 2013.

REVIEW: CMMG Tactical Bacon

Tactical Bacon 1

There have been a lot of end of the world scenarios floating around over the past few decades.

A zombie outbreak leaving the world decimated and filled with the shambling dead. A superbug making its way over from China and bringing down humanity through one questionable chicken salad sandwich sold at a deli in New Jersey. A robot uprising enslaving humanity as Siri tires of looking up show times for Resident Evil sequels and becomes self-aware.

Y2Kers warned of the destruction of society at the hands of the number 0. Aerosmith cautioned us about an Earth-asteroid collision. The Mayans predicted we will run out of calendars at the end of this year.

They are all perfectly scary in their own right, but I’m going to float my own theory. A theory so terrifying, I can barely force the keystrokes.

Sentient cholesterol.

Follow me down the greasy rabbit hole.

We’re fat. Really fat. Like redesign the It’s a Small World boats fat. With that much idle cholesterol lying around, do you expect me to believe that it is not slowly evolving into some kind of super intelligent hivemind? Please.

Cholesterol is already conscious. It has to be. It’s only biding its time. It can’t just rise up all of a sudden. It has to lull us into a false sense of security first. Why do you think Paula Dean’s still alive? (Note to self: investigate possible Starship Troopers-like Paula Dean/queen bug scenario).
Notice the bacon phenomenon that’s been incubating on the internet for the past few years? Bingo. Zero hour is almost at hand.

Case in point. Tactical Bacon. Bacon in a can. A can! Surely such a sublime novelty sounds good on paper but couldn’t possibly deliver on its promise in the harsh cold light of reality.
I didn’t know what to expect upon opening the can. Possibly a wet messy clump of bacon strips sitting forlornly at the bottom of a can filled with salt brine.

Tactical Bacon 4

Instead I got this greasy, waxy paper stacked two layers deep and rolled into a tight roll the perfect size for fitting into a can. It was terrifying and beautiful. Unfurling it made me feel a little like Dexter Morgan. That exciting rush he must feel before a kill. But instead of a menacing roll of gleaming knives, I had a processed pork product.

Tactical Bacon 5

Tactical Bacon 6

I counted the strips. I had to know. At final count, my hands were heavy with grease, and I had over 40 strips of bacon. Dear God, man.

The nosegrope was indeed bacon. Not jerky, not chemical, not metallic. Bacon. That was troubling. The clock of humanity ticks one minute closer to midnight.

Tactical Bacon 7

Surely canned bacon can’t taste right. If there is a just and merciful omnipotent force guiding the universe, it wouldn’t allow it. But my friends, the bacon…tastes…good. It tastes like cold bacon. The texture has lost a little and become a touch mealy, there are occasional notes of the smoke flavoring that’s been added, and the bacon obviously doesn’t have that fresh from the pan pop, but the bacon tastes good. Certainly good enough.

Tactical Bacon 8

So the end game is upon us. Soon we will find ourselves in yet another disaster scenario. Panic will ensue. The human race will get wind of this product (it keeps for 10 years) and start stockpiling it, forgoing canned vegetables and survival rations. The disaster will pass by innocently, and people will find themselves with pantries full of canned bacon and a backed up Netflix queue.

And then…the snacking shall begin.

I weep for the subjugation of our once noble race. Writing this review, it has just occurred to me that I may very well be the puppet of our cholesterol masters. Turned into a disposable, pro-bacon, propaganda-spouting mouthpiece. I won’t live like this. It’s not right. I can’t betray my fellow man. I’m going to finish this can and wait for death’s sweet release.

Tactical Bacon 2

“Beware the Cholesterol Man, for he is the Devil’s pawn. Alone among God’s primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother’s land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.”

(Nutrition Facts – 3 slices (14g) – 60 calories, 5 grams of fat, 2 grams of saturated fat, 15 milligrams of cholesterol, 190 milligrams of sodium, 0 grams of carbohydrates, and 5 grams of protein. )

Item: CMMG Tactical Bacon
Purchased Price: $19.99
Size: 9 ounces
Purchased at: Think Geek
Rating: 8 out of 10
Pros: Bacon in a goddamn can.
Cons: Bacon in a goddamn can!