CONSUMERS : Baby’s Bottle Will Tell You if It’s Too Hot
The latest in infant products is a bottle that tells when the milk or formula it holds is too hot for baby. The bottle doesn’t talk--it changes color.
Just released by ansa Bottle Company Inc. of Muskogee, Okla., the Easy-to-Know bottle is made of a heat-sensitive plastic that turns from various pastel shades at room temperature to white when its contents are too hot.
The hotter the liquid, the greater the color change of the bottle, which also features ansa’s distinctive design--it has an elongated hole in its middle, making it easier for infants and parents to hold.
The company pioneered the design with its 1984 Easy-to-Hold bottle, an original of which is exhibited in New York’s Museum of Modern Art as “an example of good design and intelligent use of plastic.”
The new 9-ounce bottle comes in rose, mint, peach and lavender. It can be heated in a microwave or sterilizer and is dishwasher safe. Suggested retail for Easy-To-Know is $3 to $3.50.
It will be available nationwide in March at drug, grocery and discount outlets including K mart, Target, Walgreen Drug Stores, Thrifty Drug Stores, Osco Drug, Toys-R-Us, Kids-R-Us and Lucky supermarkets.
A Talkative Watch
A new alarm watch from Japan, now being introduced in the U.S., lets its owner know what’s on its mind.
Marketed by Mind Dimensions Ltd. of Thousand Oaks, the Satoki Talking Space Watch at the press of a button vocalizes the time, besides providing a digital readout of hours, minutes and seconds. It can be programmed as a stop watch and lap time counter. The wristwatch has a day-, month- and date calendar function and an alarm with a snooze setting.
“It’s a wonderful aid for blind people or people who work in dark places,” Dorothy Gaine, Mind Dimensions director of overseas marketing, said of the watch, which comes in black, beige or khaki and runs on two silver-oxide cells that should last about 10 months.
It costs $59.95, plus $5 for shipping and handling. It can be ordered by check or money order from Mind Dimensions Ltd., 1790 La Granada Drive, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91362 or call (805) 379-0072.
Fresh-Frozen Juice
The newest entry in a burgeoning market is a premium frozen orange juice, which, unlike others, is not concentrated or pasteurized. Just Pik’t juice--orange or grapefruit--is frozen in its natural state right after it has been squeezed.
Steve Smith of the Fresh Juice Co. of Great Neck, N.Y., who spent three years developing and testing the product, said his juice is “simply fresh-squeezed and then fresh-frozen. Other than that, it is not tampered with in any way, so it keeps its true taste and total nutrients.”
Selling for $1.99, the juice comes in one-liter plastic containers that consumers can defrost at home. Once Just Pik’t is defrosted, it lasts only about a week in the refrigerator before it loses its fresh taste. It is available in the frozen food sections at Alpha Beta, Certified Grocers, Gelsons, Hughes, Ralphs and Von’s markets.
