
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, October 8, 1993                   TAG: 9310120271
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO COLUMN} FRIDAY 
SOURCE: Beth Macy
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

HOW ABOUT A VINEGAR COCKTAIL?

We were too-too curious about the ``juice vinegar product,'' Jogging in a Jug, when we spotted it in the grocery story aisle at Kroger a few months ago.

So what is this new product? A laxative? A vitamin supplement? Moonshine with a health-food twist?

According to information from the Tuscumbia, Ala., company, Jogging in a Jug contains cider vinegar, apple juice and grape juice. Vinegar can clean the sink, dissolve calcium and mineral deposits in pipes, tenderize meats and remove decals from trucks.

Therefore, the theory goes, Jogging in a Jug will scrub those pesky arteries, too. The company has received hundreds of testimonials from folks who feel it's lowered their colesterol, lifted their lethargy and lessened their arthritis.

Businesswise it's no joke, either, with projected sales of 1 million bottles this year, at about $6 per half-gallon. In Roanoke, the product's available at Kroger, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Wal-Mart and some drug stores.

"I drink it all the time,'' says Dave Hutchinson Jr. of Valley Distributing Corp., which distributes the product in this area. "And what I don't drink makes a helluva good steak marinade."

Vinegar is an old-timey home remedy back from the days when ``our grandmothers always kept it on the dinner table," he adds.

As for the taste, it's best served ice cold, he says - "otherwise you have to hold your nose. It's kinda like drinking apple cider at Easter."

by CNB