Liquid Breakthrough

Latest Coca-Cola product marketed in Japan: a fiber-rich soft drink. Fibi, reports Food Business Magazine, consists of corn syrup and guar gum fiber, plus flavoring, caramel color and Vitamin C. (If it’s a carbonated fiber drink, we don’t want to watch it fizz.)

Up the Tubes

So we’ve already got squeezable drinks (Squeeze-It) and jellies (Oatmeal Swirlers). Now a Venezuelan company, Inalvenco, wants the youth of this nation to start squeezing mango, papaya, passion fruit and guava jam straight into their mouths. Frutti-Tub (rhymes with “lube”) will be available in toothpaste-type tubes ranging from 6.8 ounce capacity down to the 0.7 ounce pocket size.

Available Soon: Mock Sugar

Scientists have developed a process for making a low-calorie sugar substitute from . . . a sugar. Not from table sugar, to be sure, but from d-galactose, a milk sugar obtainable from the cheese-making byproduct whey. The technique--patented by employees of Biospherics, Inc., of Beltsville, Md.--produces large quantities of the rare but naturally occurring compound d-tagatose, which tastes almost as sweet as sugar but is not digested as a sugar. Unlike other sugar substitutes, d-tagatose provides the same physical bulk as table sugar, which makes it usable in baking.

Stuff This Wallet

A Korean entrepreneur wants to interest Americans in wallets made from turkey drumstick skin, which is said to resemble alligator when dyed and treated. (Chung Soo Sang, reports the Wall Street Journal, was formerly in the business of selling wallets from eelskin--also an edible source, come to think of it.) The skins will be imported from the United States, since Koreans do not eat turkey. Sang hopes to promote his product as “The Leather of Thanksgiving.”

Advent of the Master Breed

The first cloned cow--named Clony, of course--was produced last year by a French biotechnology company from a frozen embryo; four more calves from the same embryo are due to be born this month. Why clone a cow? To produce animals with the most desirable characteristics (size, resistance to disease) and to provide themes for sci-fi movies about menacing superbovines.

Make That a Cabrito Fajita Pita, Sweetie

Texas A&I livestock specialists predict goat meat (under its more elegant name cabrito ) will be a big hit. One is quoted as saying cabrito will be the “ fajita of the ‘90s.”

Not Tonight, I’m Not Hungry

The National Restaurant Assn. says that 40% of adults have eaten Chinese, Mexican or Italian food in the preceding month; the Gallup Poll has found that on any given night, 22% of Americans eat alone; 10% of Americans are said to suffer headaches, irritability and cramps after eating MSG. The conclusion is inescapable: Single people should eat either Bulgarian or Eskimo food.

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