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BUYERS GUIDE 1 6 KITCHENWARE NEWS & HOUSEWARES REVIEW n JUNE 2016 n www.kitchenwarenews.com Buyers Guide Lunch Bags & Boxes BUILT 10 PIECE GOURMET BENTO BOX FROM LIFETIME BRANDS BUILT®, Lifetime Brands, Inc.'s line of lifestyle accessories, intro- duces new products to accommodate the need for lunch on the go, from keeping food and beverages cold and properly packed to cre- ating a clean place to eat. BUILT's new lunch solutions cover the en- tire lunch-packing and storing spectrum, offering unique features and designs to make life on the go easier. The BUILT 10 Piece Gourmet Bento Box is designed to hold everything you need to bring your lunch on the go. The leak-proof Bento Box includes a knife, fork, and spoon (made of stainless steel with ABS handles), a dressing container, an ice pack, food dividers, a secure lock utensil holder, and a microwaving valve. The Gourmet Bento is made from break-resistant polypropylene, and has been tested for lead safety, phthalates, PVC and BPA. Available in either Black/Gray or White/Mint, the lunch container body, lid, and other parts are dishwasher safe, top rack only. Suggested retail price: $14.99 Lifetime Brands, Inc. 844.284.5869 www.builtny.com Genuine Thermos Brand Introduces New Products Genuine Thermos® Brand has released new products focused around active lifestyles for 2016. The line includes insulated beverage containers and travel food storage. The brand's first-ever shaker-style bottles were designed with the active and nutrition- focused individual in mind. The 24-ounce Shaker Bottles feature an integrated and removable stationary mixer that helps blend protein beverage ingredients evenly. The locking, hygienic covered lid flips open with the touch of a button and has an open spout for high flow and easy drinking. The lid also has an integrated flip-up carrying loop for convenient portability. The products are available in BPA-f ree Eastman Tritan™ copolyester and vacuum insulated stainless steel. The vacuum insulated bottle keeps contents cold for up to 12 hours, ensuring it stays fresh long after the workout is finished. The Thermos Connected Hydration Bottle with Smart Lid enables users to monitor their water intake, and customize their hydration goals to support a healthy lifestyle. With the help of the Thermos Smart Lid app, the bottle detects how much water is consumed throughout the day to provide automatic, real-time tracking. This bottle also Works with Fitbit(R). Users can connect their Fitbit account to the Thermos Smart Lid App, to sync their hydration stats into Fitbit each time a bottle of water is finished. The unique two-in-one design of Dual Compartment Food Jars keeps contents hot or cold, and fresh and ready to enjoy. The bottom of the jar features a stainless steel vacuum insulated storage container that can keep food hot for up to seven hours, even when stored in the ref rigerator. The top compartment is an Eastman Tritan container that locks onto the bottom compartment when closed, and hinges to open, making it convenient for eating. New for 2016, this product now comes in a smaller size and new colors, making it the perfect fit for school lunches and field trips. Just in time for the warmer weather, Thermos brand Vacuum Insulated Cold Cups are the perfect vessels for morning smoothies, cold press juices, refreshing iced teas and coffees. Available in two sizes, 18 and 22 ounces, and a variety of colors, the products keep contents cold for up to 13 and 15 hours, depending on the model. The cups also feature a removable, easy-to-clean straw, and are dishwasher safe and sweat-proof. Genuine Thermos Brand Element5® products incorporate vacuum insulation technology for maximum temperature retention and double wall stainless steel construction for durability. The 16-ounce Backpack Bottle is made f rom durable stainless steel, and will keep contents hot for up to 12 hours or cold for up to 24. The one-handed, push-button operation makes it easy to use and the locking ring provides extra security during transport. The 16-ounce Travel Mug features a 360-degree lid that is easy to use and even easier to drink from. The one-button release makes the mug convenient to drink on the go. Contents will stay hot for up to five hours and cold for up to nine. For more information about Genuine Thermos Brand products, visit www.thermos.com. KN FREEZABLE CLASSIC LUNCH BOX FROM PACKIT, LLC. The old-school lunch box is getting a twist from PackIt. The Freezable Classic Lunch Box is a horizontal lunch box that chills healthy food for up to 10 hours. The entire lunch box goes into the freezer overnight to activate its built-in freezable gel. By morn- ing, the walls of the lunch box will be com- pletely frozen and ready to chill whatever is put inside. Freezable gel is built into the lunch box so users don't have to waste money on ice packs. The lunch box's top-load design makes it easy to pack flat containers like bento boxes. The Classic Lunch Box collapses down to the thickness of a thin paperback book for compact storage. A buckle handle clips onto backpacks or sports bags for convenient travel to and from school, daycare and sports activities. Suggested retail price: $19.99 PackIt, LLC. 805.496.2999 www.packit.com D'ECO LUNCH BOXES FROM SCS DIRECT, INC. Improve the ease of lunchtime while reducing waste with lunch boxes that cater to the needs of everyone in the family. D'Eco Lunch Boxes, which hold a matching fork and knife in the lid, col- lapse to one third of itheir original size for easy storage, and are equipped with two compartments. D'Eco Lunch Boxes are BPA and Phthalate FREE, as well as dishwasher and microwave safe. They are perfect for transporting meals and snacks. In addition to school or work, these convenient lunch boxes make a great companion for sporting events, picnics in the parks, outdoor concerts and long road trips in the car, rail or plane. SCS Direct, Inc. 203.590.2094 www.decohouseware.com CLARION TUMBLERS FROM PLANET ZAK This year Planet Zak is adding a burst of color and a new style to double wall tumblers with the new Clarion Tumblers. The Clarion tumblers are designed to fit in most car cup holders and are durable enough to take nearly anywhere. They feature a press-on lid with a silicone gasket to help prevent leaks and a straw with a stopper to keep it from falling out of the cup. The double-wall insulation helps keep beverages colder for longer periods of time and prevents condensation from building up on the outside of the tumbler. What really sets the Clarion tumblers apart, however, is the innovative rip- pled design that gives the tumblers a glass-like shimmer and stylish appearance. The Clarion tumblers are completely BPA-free and dishwasher safe and are available in a wide assortment of colors to match every style and taste. Planet Zak 970.270.8550 www.zak.com ECOlunchboxes: the Convenience of Plastic Without the Plastic BY LORRIE BAUMANN ECOlunchbox introduced its new Blue Water bento box line at this year's International Home + Housewares Show. The stainless steel containers with silicone lids offer families a plastic-f ree option that avoids concerns about whether chemicals might be leaching f rom plastic containers into the food inside them. Sandra Harris, ECOlunchbox's Founder and President, started the company seven years ago after she'd become aware of concerns about the presence of bisphenol A (BPA), an industrial chemical used to make polycarbonate, a hard, clear plastic, in food storage containers. After it was shown that small, measurable amounts of the packaging materials may migrate into food and can be consumed with it, the packaging industr y responded by abandoning the use of BPA for containers such as baby bottles and sippy cups. These days, BPA is still in use in some applications where it comes into contact with food, and the federal Food and Drug Administration has decided that BPA is safe at the levels in which it's currently found in foods that have been exposed to packaging that contains the chemical, but the agency continues to study this issue to resolve remaining uncertainties. " We thought, better safe than sorry," Harris says. Her family traded in their plastic water bottles for stainless steel, and Harris went looking for nontoxic, nonplastic food containers for families that just didn't want to be exposed to the chemical. Her company launched in 2009 with a line of two stainless steel food containers and a backpack-style lunch bag Continued on PAGE 17

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