The British love their tea

The British love their tea – that’s no surprise. And at UK Vending we’re focused on delivering you the best known brands in order to give you the most delicious tasting cup of tea possible.

But it’s also important to provide you with sustainable options. Tea from Cafédirect is a popular drink choice from the KLIX drinks vending range, reflecting the outstanding work this Fairtrade brand does in investing 60% of its profits back into growers’ businesses.

It’s a perfect reflection of the refreshing taste of this tea, as well as the innovative nature of this exciting brand.

Energy efficient KLIX OUTLOOK® marks five years with six new fascias

As one of the leading brands of  UK Vending , KLIX has a strong heritage in providing great tasting quality products and drinks to workplaces, leisure facilities and other public areas throughout the world. And with over 40 years of experience UK Vending  has help KLIX to established as the UK’s number one in-cup drinks vending solution.

Klix Outlook Drinks Machine

KLIX offers an easy and efficient way of serving the perfect mix of ingredients for delicious drinks every time. Easy and mess free to operate, KLIX offers a great solution for any workplace, as well as being perfect for those indoor and outdoor spaces where low maintenance and high quality are key requirements.

In 2004, KLIX launched its OUTLOOK® drinks vending machine range. Offering six attractive exterior design options, the OUTLOOK consistently delivers hot and cold drinks quickly and cleanly through a single touch operation system.

The OUTLOOK has been so popular that KLIX has decided to mark its five year anniversary by launching a new range of six colourful fascia designs. The creative new designs offer a choice of style for every setting, from public attractions through to corporate boardrooms. The new OUTLOOK graphics will be available from September 7, 2009.

At KLIX it’s not only style that takes priority, saving energy and money is also high on the agenda. That’s why KLIX puts its machines through a number of tests in line with the European Vending Association Energy Measurement Test protocol (version 2). The results for the KLIX OUTLOOK reflected the energy efficiency of the machines, which is built in from design through to operation. Highlights include:

* 40% more energy efficient over a typical year compared against two leading free standing vending machines.

* 29% more energy efficient over a typical year compared against three leading water boilers.

Designed with energy efficiency and reliability in mind, the KLIX drinks vending system offers an effective way of serving a delicious range of in-cup branded drinks. Using UK Vending  years of experience, KLIX can set up its drinks vending machines to meet the demands of individual organisations. Based on male-female ratio, age range, industry and machine location, the perfect bespoke drinks menu can be created.

With over 35 drink options to choose from, including premium brands like PG tips, Nescafé, and not to mention hot chocolates, chilled drinks and a range of sustainable drinks, there’s something for everyone, all available from UK Vending Ltd

More infomation

Coffee ‘may reverse Alzheimer’s’ A possible treatment for dementia?

 Drinking five cups of coffee a day could reverse memory problems seen in Alzheimer’s disease, US scientists say.

The Florida research, carried out on mice, also suggested caffeine hampered the production of the protein plaques which are the hallmark of the disease. Previous research has also suggested a protective effect from caffeine. But British experts said the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease study did not mean that dementia patients should start using caffeine supplements.

The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve Dr Gary Arendash University of South Florida The 55 mice used in the University of South Florida study had been bred to develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.

First the researchers used behavioural tests to confirm the mice were exhibiting signs of memory impairment when they were aged 18 to 19 months, the equivalent to humans being about 70.

They gave half the mice caffeine in their drinking water. The rest were given plain water. The mice were given the equivalent of five 8 oz (227 grams) cups of coffee a day – about 500 milligrams of caffeine.

The researchers say this is the same as is found in two cups of “specialty” coffees such as lattes or cappuccinos from coffee shops, 14 cups of tea, or 20 soft drinks.

When the mice were tested again after two months, those who were given the caffeine performed much better on tests measuring their memory and thinking skills and performed as well as mice of the same age without dementia.

Those drinking plain water continued to do poorly on the tests. In addition, the brains of the mice given caffeine showed nearly a 50% reduction in levels of the beta amyloid protein, which forms destructive clumps in the brains of dementia patients. Further tests suggested caffeine affects the production of both the enzymes needed to produce beta amyloid.

The researchers also suggest that caffeine suppresses inflammatory changes in the brain that lead to an overabundance of the protein. Earlier research by the same team had shown younger mice, who had also been bred to develop Alzheimer’s but who were given caffeine in their early adulthood, were protected against the onset of memory problems.

‘Safe drug’ Dr Gary Arendash, who led the latest study,  “The results are particularly exciting in that a reversal of pre-existing memory impairment is more difficult to achieve. “They provide evidence that caffeine could be a viable ‘treatment’ for established Alzheimer’s disease and not simply a protective strategy. “That’s important because caffeine is a safe drug for most people, it easily enters the brain, and it appears to directly affect the disease process.”

Team now hope to begin human trials of caffeine to see if the mouse findings are replicated in people. They do not know if a lower amount of caffeine would be as effective, but said most people could safely consume the 500 milligrams per day.

However they said people with high blood pressure, and pregnant women, should limit their daily caffeine intake. Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: “In this study on mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s, researchers found that caffeine boosted their memory. We need to do more research to find out whether this effect will be seen in people. “It is too early to say whether drinking coffee or taking caffeine supplements will help people with Alzheimer’s. Neil Hunt, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Society, said previous research into caffeine had suggested it could delay Alzheimer’s disease and even protect against vascular dementia. “This research in mice suggests that coffee may actually reverse some element of memory impairment. “However much more research is needed to determine whether drinking coffee has the same impact in people. “It is too soon to say whether a cup of coffee is anything more than a pleasant pick me up.”

Steaming hot tea linked to cancer

Tea from a Flavia or KLIX vending machine can combat the problem by ensuring a perfect temperature drink is delivered

Drinking steaming hot tea has been linked with an increased risk of oesophageal (food tube) cancer, Iranian scientists have found.The British Medical Journal study found that drinking black tea at temperatures of 70C or higher increased the risk. Experts said the finding could explain the increased oesophageal cancer risk in some non-Western populations. Adding milk, as most tea drinkers in Western countries do, cools the drink enough to eliminate the risk. The oesophagus is the muscular tube that carries food from the throat to the stomach. Oesophagus cancers kill more than 500,000 people worldwide each year and oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the commonest type. Tobacco and alcohol are the main factors linked to the development of oesophageal cancers in Europe and America nations. But it has not been clear why other populations around the world have high rates of the disease although there has been a theory that regularly drinking very hot drinks damage the lining of the gullet.   A litre a day Golestan Province in northern Iran has one of the highest rates of OSCC in the world, but rates of smoking and alcohol consumption are low and women are as likely to have a diagnosis as men. Tea drinking, however, is widespread. The University of Tehran researchers studied tea drinking habits among 300 people diagnosed with OSCC and compared them with a group of 570 people from the same area. Nearly all participants drank black tea regularly, on average drinking over a litre a day. Compared with drinking warm or lukewarm tea (65C or less), drinking hot tea (65-69C) was associated with twice the risk of oesophageal cancer, and drinking very hot tea (70C or more) was associated with an eight-fold increased risk. The speed with which people drank their tea was also important. Drinking a cup of tea in under two minutes straight after it was poured was associated with a five-fold higher risk of cancer compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured, There was no association between the amount of tea consumed and risk of cancer. Because the researchers had relied on study participants to say how hot their tea was, they then went on to measure the temperature of tea drunk by nearly 50,000 residents of the same area. This ranged from under 60C to more than 70C, and reported tea drinking temperature and actual temperature was found to be similar. Tea lovers Writing in the BMJ, the researchers led by Professor Reza Malekzadeh, said: “Our results showed a noticeable increase in risk of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma associated with drinking hot tea. “A large proportion of Golestan inhabitants drink hot tea, so this habit may account for a substantial proportion of the cases of oesophageal cancer in this population.” Previous studies from the UK have reported people prefer their tea to be about 56-60C – cool enough not to be risky. In a BMJ editorial, David Whiteman from the Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Australia said: “The mechanism through which heat promotes the development of tumours warrants further exploration and might be given renewed impetus on the basis of these findings.” Dr Whiteman advised tea-drinkers to simply wait a few minutes for their brew to cool from “scalding” to “tolerable”. Oliver Childs, a spokesman for Cancer Research UK, said: “Tea drinking is part of many cultures, and these results certainly don’t point to tea itself being the problem. “But they do provide more evidence that a regular habit of eating and drinking very hot foods and drinks could increase your risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus.” He added: “People in this region of northern Iran often drink very hot tea as part of their daily routine. We’re a nation of tea lovers in the UK, but we don’t tend to drink tea at such high temperatures and we usually add milk, which cools it down.”