It’s fair to say that a grape-flavored beverage with an orange-colored liquid is a strange combination. However, the question of aligning color with flavor becomes slightly more muddled when considering the brightness of a carrot juice, or a clear-colored cola. In this BeverageSchool.com video, Kate Ratliff, the technical director at Flavorman, discusses important factors that beverage companies should consider when deciding on the color of the liquid in their products.

A Texas state representative is calling for a new tax on the sale of sugary and high calorie beverages in order to fund new public health initiatives aimed at curbing rising obesity rates and related health problems. Rep. Joe Farias (D-San Antonio) filed a proposal that would add a $0.01 per ounce tax on “certain sweetened beverages and ingredients used to make certain sweetened beverages.”

The Coca-Cola Co. Inc. announced yesterday that it has signed pop country singer Taylor Swift to a long-term endorsement deal for its Diet Coke brand. The deal will make Swift the centerpiece of Diet Coke's "Stay Extraordinary" campaign and "will be integrated into all key marketing efforts for the brand," including TV, print and digital advertising, according to the company.

As the market for chia products continues to thrive and expand, Drink Chia announced today that it has secured new deals with natural products distributors UNFI and KeHE, and dramatically increased the size of its footprint in the Northeast, Midwest, and throughout Florida. The company also announced that it has increased the package size for its whole chia seed beverage, moving it into a new 10 oz. bottle.

Hoping to swarm distributors, the maker of Killer Buzz Energy drinks is actively seeking an acquisition of one or two beverage companies - and could spend upwards of $10 million to do so. “There’s no cap and no floor,” said Jeremy Friedman, director of marketing for Killer Buzz. “It’s more about opportunity than the size of the investment. If an opportunity warranted a $10 million acquisition, that number is not too high.”

Over the last three days, the American Beverage Association (ABA) has published three separate statements countering a recent Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) report which found that the number of emergency room visits involving energy drinks more than doubled from 10,068 in 2007 to 20,783 in 2011. The ABA called the report inaccurate and “more sensational than substantive.”

Taking direct aim at the Smartwater juggernaut, Nestlé Waters North America (NWNA) announced that it is now distributing its Resource water brand nationally. NWNA test launched the premium-priced water brand, which is spring-sourced and contains naturally occurring electrolytes, last year in Southern California, and initiated new distribution of the brand across the U.S. earlier this year.

New York City’s Board of Health has announced that it will give restaurants and other on-premise food retailers a three-month grace period before enforcing its ban on the sale of large format sugary drinks. Once the 90-day grace period ends, violators of the ban will be subject to a $200 fine.