Alcohol-coffee mix 'dangerous'

Mixing alcohol and caffeine is hardly a new concept but a rash of cases involving students and others who landed in hospital after drinking beverages that combine the two has alarmed college and health officials in the United States. The drinks are dangerous, doctors say, because the caffeine masks the effects of the alcohol, keeping consumers from realising how intoxicated they are.

A brand called Four Loko - a fruit-flavoured malt beverage that has an alcohol content of 12 per cent and as much caffeine as a cup of coffee - has come under scrutiny after students who drank it in New Jersey and Washington ended up in emergency rooms, some with high levels of alcohol poisoning. The drink is only sold in the US.

"This is one of the most dangerous new alcohol concoctions I have ever seen," said Dr Michael Reihart, who said he had treated more than a dozen teenagers and adults during the past three months after they drank Four Loko. "It's a recipe for disaster because your body's natural defence is to get sleepy and not want to drink but in this case you're tricking the body with the caffeine." The Food and Drug Administration is currently reviewing whether the drinks are safe.

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Tea & Coffee: Linked to Lower Brain Cancer Risk

Researchers have discovered that coffee and tea might do more than boost your energy levels: Regular consumption of the world's two most popular beverages may also shield you against a form of brain cancer. In fact, the latest research suggests that those who drink as little as a half cup or so of coffee per day may lower brain cancer risk by as much as 34 percent.

Lead researcher Dominique S. Michaud, of Brown University's department of community health in Providence, heads an international team that reports the finding in the November issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.The notion that coffee and tea might accrue an anti-cancer health benefit to regular drinkers builds on previous research that has indicated that the beverages may also lower the risk for both Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

The current effort explored the possibility that coffee and tea may also protect against brain cancer, specifically in the form of glioma, a cancer of the central nervous system that originates in the brain and/or spinal cord.

Data concerning the dietary habits of more than 410,000 men and women between the ages of 25 and 70 was drawn from the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study, which included participants from France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Greece, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Germany.

Participants were recruited between 1991 and 2000, and were tracked over the course of about 8.5 years. During that time, food surveys were completed to gauge, among other things, the amount of tea and coffee each participant consumed.

During the study, 343 new cases of glioma were diagnosed, as were 245 new cases of meningioma, another cancer that affects tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

Decaffeinated coffee consumption was found to be very low overall, while regular coffee and tea drinking patterns varied greatly from country to country. For example, while the Danish (the biggest consumers of coffee) drank on average nearly 3.5 cups per day, Italians (the lowest consumers) averaged less than a half-cup daily. Tea consumption was highest in Great Britain, and lowest in Spain.

By stacking drinking patterns against brain cancer incidence, the research team found that drinking 100 mL (or 0.4 cups) per day and above lowered the risk of gliomas by 34 percent.The protective effect appears to be slightly stronger among men, the authors observed, and seems to apply solely to gliomas.

Dr. Jonathan Friedman, director of the Texas Brain and Spine Institute at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in Bryan, described the findings as "surprising."

"However, the mechanism by which coffee is protective is completely unknown," he cautioned. "While the caffeine itself might be important, some of the other common components of coffee or tea might also be relevant, such as natural antioxidants," he noted.

"Additional studies will be required to confirm these findings," he stressed, "and to identify the basis for the correlation." Dr. John S. Yu, director of the Brain Tumor Center of Excellence at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said the finding was "striking."

"If we had a drug for any disease that could demonstrate a risk reduction of 34 percent, that would be considered a great drug. That degree of risk reduction is very strong," he said.

"And as for the specific protective impact of caffeine, this finding follows other recent research that demonstrated that coffee drinking is associated with a lower risk for breast cancer as well," Yu noted.

"But even taken together, it has not yet been established whether or not this is directly causative -- [in other words, whether] drinking caffeine directly reduces disease risk -- or whether this is actually about an association between other factors concerning the type of people who drink a certain amount of coffee and risk reduction. More research is needed to figure that out."

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Marylou’s chain plans R.I. expansion

A Massachusetts-based coffee shop chain famous for its pink and black logo and television commercials featuring beautiful servers has announced plans to expand into Rhode Island. Marylou’s plans to open five stores in Rhode Island by the end of 2011.

Company owner Marylou Sandry tells The Patriot Ledger of Quincy that she’s excited by the expansion that could create up to 150 new jobs. She says the Rhode Island stores will be housed in Shell gas stations, owned by Colbea Enterprises LLC of Cranston, R.I.

The first is scheduled to open in East Providence next month, with the other planned for North Providence, Smithfield, Johnson and East Greenwich. Hingham-based Marylou’s, founded in 1986, currently has 25 locations in the region south of Boston.

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Tim Hortons coming to Iqaluit

Tim Hortons is finally setting up shop in Iqaluit, one of the last places in Canada where the iconic coffee-and-donut shop chain doesn't have a foothold in the local market.

Tim Hortons officials announced this week that it's teaming up with the North West Company to open three kiosks in Nunavut's capital city starting in early December, creating the chain's northernmost franchise.

As a result, many Iqaluit residents and visitors can soon discontinue the long-held tradition of toting boxes of donuts, Timbits and beverages with them on flights from Yellowknife, Ottawa or Montreal.

"We heard stories, repeated stories, [about people] on the daily flights to Ottawa to Iqaluit … bringing dozens of donuts," Nick Javor, Tim Hortons senior vice-president of corporate affairs, told CBC News.

"We said, 'Wow, wouldn't be great to bring the Tim Hortons concept to the last true remaining part of Canada where we are not with a presence?'"
Basic menu

There are more than 3,000 Tim Hortons stores across Canada, including locations in Yellowknife and Whitehorse.

A historic fur trading company turned retailer, the North West Company owns the NorthMart general store and two Quick Stop convenience stores in the city of about 7,000

The kiosks that will be set up in those three stores will feature a basic Tim Hortons menu, according to officials. The chain will run its local bakery from the NorthMart store.

"We've taken our time on this," said Michael McMullen, executive vice-president of the North West Company's northern Canada retail division.

"We've done due diligence, and we've got the right format and market coverage, considered the traffic, considered the recycling, considered the cost. I think both companies came to this and said, 'We want to do this right, we don't want to do it quick.'"

Splitting up the Iqaluit Tim Hortons franchise into three kiosks will prevent traffic from piling up in front of NorthMart, McMullen said, adding that the smaller kiosks would also be easier to staff.
Feeling the 'Tims effect'

Rumours of the Tim Hortons arrival have been swirling for years in Iqaluit, which has several independent coffee shops — including one owned by Mayor Elisapee Sheutiapik called the Grind and Brew.

Brian Twerdin, Sheutiapik's partner and the Grind and Brew's manager, said their shop is feeling the "Tims effect" even before the chain has landed in the city.

"Knowing that they were probably coming, we tried to diversify," Twerdin told CBC News on Thursday.

"We still have the coffee shop, but now we do the pizza … kind of restaurant thing to kind of offset that," he said. "But I think it will still have some impact on, like I say, the coffee shops that are in town."

But news of the chain's opening had local coffee enthusiasts like Sarah Deneester — a customer at Fantasy Palace, another Iqaluit coffee shop — proclaiming continued loyalty to the existing establishments.

"I think that we're not going to give up on Fantasy Palace," Deneester said.

"We come here every day, sometimes even twice a day. Maybe we'll stop in for the odd Timbit or donut, since we miss that," she added. "But the coffee's good here, and we love the people."
Litter a concern

Some critics have already brought up environmental concerns, pointing to longstanding complaints about discarded Tim Hortons cups littering communities where the chain has an outlet.

"We already have a problem with Tim Hortons cups being the signature waste of Canada — or the signature litter, I guess you'd say — of Canada, from coast to coast," said Larry Lack of St. Andrews, N.B., an outspoken critic of Tim Hortons litter nationwide.

"This will make it coast to coast to coast if it starts to be accepted there without something being done about the problem of Tim Hortons litter, particularly the cups," he said.

Tim Hortons officials say the chain's disposable cups are now recyclable or can be composted — but only in cities where municipal recycling and composting programs are available, which rules out Iqaluit.

The North West Company's McMullen said the Iqaluit franchise is working on a litter-reduction plan in advance of its grand opening.

North West Company officials said they will also hold a charity event during the Tim Hortons grand opening, carrying on the coffee chain's tradition of community involvement.

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Blue Bottle Coffee backs out of Dolores Park deal

Blue Bottle Coffee's decision to back out of a city-blessed plan to open up shop -- albeit in a small 8-by-12 aluminum trailer -- in Dolores Park was a gimme-a-shot-of-espresso-no-make-that-a-double wake-up call for San Francisco officials eager to add commerce to the park visitors' experience: If there's one thing San Franciscans know how to do it's organize, especially if its over a neighborhood issue.

Opponents of the plan to let Blue Bottle open in Dolores Park mounted an aggressive campaign. ''It saddens me that Blue Bottle pulled out, but San Francisco neighborhood politics is what it is,'' said Recreation and Park Commission President Mark Buell.

He said he hopes the department can find another coffee vendor to go into Dolores Park. But first, he said, staff should embark on much more robust outreach with the surrounding community ''and find a magic formula of what would be acceptable.''

Recreation and Park Department staff learned of Blue Bottle owner James Freeman's decision late Tuesday, just days before his portable coffee stand was to open and amid continued controversy. Freeman told the City Insider that he bid for the Dolores Park concession because he thought ''it would be a fun delightful idea, but eventually it proved to be not so delightful.''

Nearby cafe owners, upset over the prospect of city-sanctioned competition, led the charge against Blue Bottle; other neighbors, upset over the idea of commercializing the park, joined in. Opponents signed petitions, packed public meetings and vented their fury on blogs.

In short, they made life miserable for park officials who had hoped to make it easy for people to buy a cup of coffee in the popular park and at the same time generate some money, in the $30,000 to $35,000-a-year range for the cash-strapped Rec and Park Department.

Rec and Park Department spokesman Elton Pon said opposition was led by just a handful of people and that the real proof of support or disapproval would have been ''whether people bought a cup of coffee there.''

The Blue Bottle controversy is just the latest to hit Rec and Park, with plans to find a new operator of the Stow Lake food and boat concession in Golden Gate Park and another to charge admission to out-of-town visitors to the city's Botanical Garden also drawing heat but eventually moving forward.

''Controversy is the reality of any change that takes place in a park,'' Buell said. But in the end, he added, rec and park officials are looking for new ways to make money to protect services. By the way, La Cocina, a Mission District-based business, is set to open a stand in Dolores Park, perhaps as early as next week.

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Coffee for a caring cause

FANCY hosting a coffee morning for a good cause? A Malaysian version of UK-based Macmillan Cancer Support’s fundraising event "The Biggest Coffee Morning" took place at the Lower Palm Square of Jaya One on Friday. Known as the Malaysian Biggest Breakfast, it was first held last year and managed to raise RM250,000 for the National Stroke Association of Malaysia – something the association is hoping to replicate.

"The event took place in shopping mall-based F&B outlets, homes and offices last year," association manager Shen Chan said. "The idea was that anyone can arrange a ‘Malaysia’s Biggest Breakfast’ event ... they just need to get in touch with us."The latest event, from 8am to noon, was sponsored by Nestle, and a week’s leafleting produced a steady trickle of employees from adjacent shops and offices at Jaya One.

"You can purchase a RM10 voucher which lets you choose from a selection of sponsored cereals, fruit, porridge and drinks, and all the money raised will go towards the operating costs of our eight recovery centres which are there to rehabilitate stroke survivors," Chan said.

"You can donate more if you choose – RM40 to get a Nestle goody bag," she added, while signing a tax exemption receipt for a smartly-dressed executive who had just arrived to collect his.

Two women sat down to a steaming container of Maggi Chicken Porridge sprinkled with an array of condiments, a cup of Nestum Fruits and a Milo each.

"We work at the offices across from here; I think it’s a good idea, I tried to get some clients to come along to contribute but it was too late a notice for them," Kim Yae, 56, said.

Chan hopes the idea will catch on. Macmillan’s Biggest Coffee Morning, which started in 1991, has been steadily getting bigger with 43,000 people registering to hold a coffee morning last year.

"We have had colleges like Inti College and UKM registering to host Malaysia’s Biggest Breakfast and they should be putting the events on in the next few weeks," she said.

Chan said the original aim was to raise RM1 million, which she conceded was ambitious, and expects something more like RM250,000 this year.

"We targeted the fundraising period for between now and Oct 24, but anyone interested in helping to host an event can contact us – we are flexible with the times."

She said anyone from offices to housewives and schools are welcome to host the event and that every effort would be a great help.

"The recovery centre operating costs can be up to RM1.8 million a year, and we derive all our funding from public funding and charity efforts," she said.

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Why Coffee Puts You in a Good Mood and Chocolate Makes You Feel High

A study from Ohio University tells you why certain foods such as coffee and chocolate affect your moods. Just like alcohol or drugs, food and spices can excite, calm or rattle the brain."The distinction of what is a drug and what is food is blurring completely. Natural things are also drugs," The New York Post quoted Gary Wenk, a professor at the Ohio State University and Medical Center and the author of the new book 'Your Brain on Food', as saying.

Different foods stimulate different regions of the brain, releasing chemicals like dopamine and serotonin that promote well-being. On the flip side, a lack of certain amino acids can cause depression and, in severe cases, madness.

The glow created by chocolate and coffee isn't just caused by caffeine, but also by a rush of dopamine that triggers the brain's pleasure receptors, Wenk said.

Chocolate also releases a form of opiate that causes that la-la feeling, along with a small amount of a substance akin to marijuana. With all that pleasure packed into a Hershey bar, it's a miracle the feds don't regulate the stuff, he joked.

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