Take This, You Cur

AkPharma, of Pleasantville, N.J., now offers a house-pet version of Beano, its gas-prevention product. You just sprinkle some CurTail (according to your gassy pet’s weight) on its food. Available in three sizes, $3 (12 feedings) to $10 (75 feedings), from veterinarians, or call (800) 257-8650 and ask for a free sample.

We’ll Take 24 of Whatever It Is

The soft-drink companies have big hopes for clear, fruit-flavored “New Age” soft drinks like Clearly Canadian. Pepsi is trying out a transparent Crystal Pepsi, and if that doesn’t fly, it’s also test-marketing a sparkling water called H2Oh! (their exclamation mark, not ours).

Milestones of Our Times

“The six-pack is virtually dead,” observes Progressive Grocer magazine; nearly all soft drinks are now sold in 12- and 24-packs.

Dialing for Calories

The Pelouze Nutritional Data System is a weighty name for a simple idea: a food scale with six interchangeable dials listing the calorie, fiber and fat content of a number of commonly consumed ingredients. Put on the appropriate dial, weigh the item and get the bad news right away. It’s around $28 at health food stores.

Is This the End of Food as We Know It?

Years ago, cardiac transplant specialist Dr. Scott Connelly developed a “metabolic cocktail” to speed the recovery of his intensive-care patients. It became the basis of Met-Rx (pronounced metrics), the first of what is expected to be a whole wave of “engineered foods”: not a medicine but a complete food you could live on (though it’s usually incorporated into a conventional diet), designed to increase muscle tissue at the expense of body fat by precise delivery of nutrients. A 32-ounce container of Met-Rx Base, a two- to four-week supply, is $32; queries at (800) 637-1572.

Beyond Lite

Good Seasons has just introduced four fat-free salad dressing mixes--Italian, creamy Italian, honey-mustard and herb--that call for no oil at all, just water and vinegar. Available at supermarkets, 95 cents a packet. (It’s been a long, strange trip since Good Seasons was founded by the chef of the Brown Derby Restaurant 45 years ago.)

Golden Anniversary

Just 25 years ago, Wisconsin became the last state to abolish its laws against coloring margarine to resemble butter. (Once upon a time, kids, margarine was as white as lard.)