NASCAR driver Bobby Grewohl shaved his head and endured his first makeup session today in New York City. It was a bit of a change for the small-town racer. “My head’s shiny,” Grewohl said. “They’ve got to dim it down a little bit.” After a photo shoot, Grewohl, the Hollister, Calif. native, joined representatives of 989 On Demand, a hydrating enhanced beverage with its functional ingredients stored in a mix-to-drink cap, for a guerilla marketing effort in the city streets.

The company issued a statement that called the DAWN report, which included information that energy drink-related emergency room visits had doubled in the U.S. from 10,068 in 2007 to a total of nearly 21,000 in 2011, "highly misleading and does not support any conclusion that energy drinks are unsafe for consumers."

With the consumer in mind, Odwalla has redesigned its packaging for the first time in six years. The healthy beverage and bar maker, owned by the Coca-Cola Co., Inc. says it has tried to remove much of the clutter from its bottles and proceeded with a cleaner look and a color-coded system that matches caps with drink segments.

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.”

The 2013 Winter Fancy Food Show begins this Sunday in San Francisco. The show is one of the largest for the specialty, natural, and gourmet food and beverage industries. The event will features approximately 50 beverage companies. BevNET.com will be on hand to report on news and innovation from beverage-related exhibitors at the show.

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.

A proposal to introduce a five cent deposit on beverage containers sold in Maryland has distributors and industry groups calling the plan "ill-conceived, outdated and ineffective," according to an article in the Baltimore Sun. State delegates Maggie McIntosh and John A. Olszewski Jr. have announced their intention to introduce a bill called “Recycle for Real," that would add Maryland to a list of 10 other states that require beverage container deposits.