As 2018 comes to a close, the editors of Beverage Industry want to highlight the Top 3 most-viewed beverage news headlines for the year. No. 1 was the announcement by SONIC's Drive-In, Oklahoma City, that it was releasing SONIC’s new Cookie Jar Shakes as part of its Summer Nights event.

Prinova USA, Carol Stream, Ill., a supplier of high-quality ingredients for the food, beverage, flavor and fragrance industries, announced the promotion of Cyndie Lipka from senior flavorist to master flavorist. 

Naturex, Avignon, France, announced that a scientific opinion in support of a safety requested extension was released by the European Food Safety Association to the European Commission for Naturex’s Talin, a natural extract from the fruit Thaumatococcus Danielli.

Remember when nothing said summer like sitting on Grandma's porch and sipping a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade? The pure sourness and simple ingredients made taste buds dance.

Sensient Flavors, a unit of Sensient Technologies Corp., released its Seasonal Selection portfolio.

Bell Flavors & Fragrances launched a new line of sweet to fiery-hot pepper flavors. Bell’s new pepper line encompasses flavor profiles from around the world including Mexico, Peru, the Middle East and Jamaica.

Comax Flavors has developed a list of the anticipated flavor trends for 2015 and divided them into four groups: Melting Pot, In a Nutshell, Coffee House and Breakfast Anytime. Flavors in each of these collections are versatile and can be used in a variety of food and beverage applications including ready-to-drink beverages, alcohol beverages and dairy products, among others, the company says.

To offer insight into the research and development side of the popular seasonal beverage pumpkin spice lattes, the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), Chicago, released a video and Q&A with food scientist and IFT spokesperson Kantha Shelke. Through these platforms, Shelke shares how the drink and the spice mix is made, explains any safety concerns involving the ingredients, and offers the science behind why consumers love it so much.