Mountain Dew Breakfast Soda Available Feb. 25; A Healthy Alternative to Energy Drinks?
PepsiCo announced on Monday that it will release a new breakfast soda called Kickstart.
The new fruit-flavored Mountain Dew beverage will start to launch on Feb. 25 in the same 16-ounce cans as popular energy drinks.
The lightly caffeinated drink will be made with Mountain Dew flavor, 5 percent juice beverage, and pack Vitamins B and C. It will be available in two flavors: Energizing Fruit Punch" and Energizing Orange Citrus.
Each 16-ounce can will have 80 calories, which is around half of other comparable cans of soda, as well as artificial sweetener to reduce sugar content, according to Time.
Mountain Dew's vice president of marketing Greg Lyons was quoted by USA Today saying that the new beverage was created after the company listened to the wants of the consumer.
"Our consumers told us they are looking for an alternative to traditional morning beverages - one that tastes great, includes real fruit juice and has just the right amount of kick to help them start their days," said Lyons.
The new Kickstart drink does not appear to be made in an effort to compete with other energy drinks on the market or even coffee for a morning pickup.
Kickstar has 92 milligrams of caffeine for a 16-ounce which is only 20 milligrams more than an original Mountain Dew of the same size. The drink can also be compared to 142 milligrams in an Amp energy drink and 330 milligrams in a 16-ounce cup of Starbucks coffee, according to The Center for Science in the Public Interest.
This is not the first time that the electric-green soda has moved into the breakfast food diet. PepsiCo partnered with Taco Bell in Sept. 2011 with the launch of Mountain Dew AM which is a blend of Tropicana orange juice mixed with the soda, according to Yahoo News.
