Just when you thought Americans couldn’t get any unhealthier comes this culinary revelation: a Mountain Dew breakfast drink. PepsiCo’s carbonated Kickstart rolls out this month, bringing the bleary-eyed masses a mix of “Mountain Dew flavor,” caffeine, artificial sweeteners, Vitamins B and C, just 80 calories, and what can probably best be described as a touch of juice content: 5% juice (which is enough to qualify as a “juice drink” under the FDA’s apparently very rigid standards).
Though it comes in flavors like “energizing orange citrus” and “energizing fruit punch” and is packaged in the 16-ounce cans popularized by energy drinks like Monster, PepsiCo says it is not an energy drink. A PepsiCo exec says the idea came from research that showed Mountain Dew fans wanted to drink something other than coffee, tea, and juice with their breakfast, reports the AP. And no, Kickstart isn’t the same as Taco Bell’s Mountain Dew breakfast drink.
