NYU’s Institute of Public Knowledge is hosting the launch of Practicing Food Studies, edited by Amy Bentley, Fabio Parasecoli, and Krishnendu Ray. I wrote the Foreword. We will all provide brief perspectives on our quarter century of teaching food studies. For information and registration, click here. For 30% off on the book, click here.
Food marketing ploy of the week: PepsiCo
My colleague, former doctoral student, and frequent correspondent, Dr. Lisa Young, sent me this choice item:
Now why would PepsiCo be interested in putting money into a conference on fermented foods?
Lisa has the answer to that one too: the company just bought a company that makes fermented beverages.
PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire KeVita, a leading North American creator of fermented probiotic and kombucha beverages. The transaction will expand PepsiCo’s health and wellness offerings in the premium chilled beverage space.
I’ll bet speakers at that conference talked a lot about the purported health benefits of drinks like these. And I’ll also be willing to bet that they did not talk about studies that show no benefit.
Just a wild guess.