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Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first developed in 1965 by a team of researchers led by Dr. Robert Cade. It was originally made for the Gators at the
University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
to replenish the
carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may o ...
s that the school's student-athletes burned and the combination of water and
electrolyte An electrolyte is a medium containing ions that is electrically conducting through the movement of those ions, but not conducting electrons. This includes most soluble salts, acids, and bases dissolved in a polar solvent, such as water. Upon ...
s that they lost in sweat during vigorous sports activities. Originally produced and marketed by Stokely-Van Camp, the Gatorade brand was purchased by the Quaker Oats Company in 1983, which, in turn, was bought by PepsiCo in 2000. As of 2010, Gatorade is PepsiCo's fourth-largest
brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
, on the basis of worldwide annual retail sales. It competes with
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance bar, temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pembe ...
's Powerade and
Vitaminwater Energy Brands, also doing business as Glacéau, is a privately owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola Company based in Whitestone, Queens, New York, that manufactures and distributes various lines of drinks marketed as enhanced water. Founded in May ...
brands worldwide, with
Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...
, and with Lucozade in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
. Within the United States, Gatorade accounts for approximately 67.7% of market share in the sports drink category.


History

Gatorade was created in 1965, by a team of scientists at the University of Florida College of Medicine, including
Robert Cade James Robert Cade (September 26, 1927 – November 27, 2007) was an American physician, university professor, research scientist and inventor. Cade, a native of Texas, earned his bachelor and medical degrees at the University of Texas, and be ...
,
Dana Shires Dana L. Shires, Jr. (born November 22, 1932) is an American physician, research scientist, and inventor. He was a member of the research team that did the work leading to the invention of Gatorade. He is the co-founder and former CEO of LifeLi ...
, Harry James Free, and Alejandro de Quesada. Following a request from
Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division o ...
head coach
Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional American football, football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where ...
, Gatorade was created to help athletes by acting as a replacement for body fluids lost during physical exertion. The earliest version of the beverage consisted of a mixture of water,
sodium Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na (from Latin ''natrium'') and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal. Sodium is an alkali metal, being in group 1 of the periodic table. Its only stable ...
,
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...
,
potassium Potassium is the chemical element with the symbol K (from Neo-Latin '' kalium'') and atomic number19. Potassium is a silvery-white metal that is soft enough to be cut with a knife with little force. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmos ...
,
phosphate In chemistry, a phosphate is an anion, salt, functional group or ester derived from a phosphoric acid. It most commonly means orthophosphate, a derivative of orthophosphoric acid . The phosphate or orthophosphate ion is derived from phosph ...
, and lemon juice. Ten players on the University of Florida football team tested the first version of Gatorade during practices and games in 1965, and the tests were deemed successful. On the other hand, star
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...
Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his ...
said, "I don’t have any answer for whether the Gatorade helped us be a better second-half team or not. . . . We drank it, but whether it helped us in the second half, who knows?" Nonetheless, the football team credited Gatorade as having contributed to their first
Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. It has been played annually since January 1, 1935, making it, along with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl, the second-oldest bowl game in ...
win over the
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Ramblin' Wre ...
in 1967, at which point the drink gained traction within the athletic community. Yellow Jackets coach Bobby Dodd, when asked why his team lost, replied: "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference." The University of Florida researchers initially considered naming their product "Gator-Aid". They settled on the name Gatorade, however, since the researchers wanted to create a commercial product, not a scientifically-validated one. Darren Rovell notes in his history of Gatorade, ''First in Thirst'', "the doctors realized that they probably shouldn't use the 'Aid' suffix, since that would mean that if the drink were ever marketed, they would have to prove that it had a clear medicinal use and perform clinical tests on thousands of people." Gatorade co-inventor
Dana Shires Dana L. Shires, Jr. (born November 22, 1932) is an American physician, research scientist, and inventor. He was a member of the research team that did the work leading to the invention of Gatorade. He is the co-founder and former CEO of LifeLi ...
explained, "We were told that you couldn't use that because the Food and Drug Administration prohibited that. That would classify it as something other than a cola or soft drink, so we changed it to ade." For example, some were skeptical that the product's effect was anything more than a placebo effect. Cade mentioned, "If you told a football player that you were giving him Demerol to relieve pain and you gave him a placebo instead, there's about a 30% chance that the placebo will relieve the pain as much as taking Demerol would have." Shortly after the 1969 Orange Bowl, Robert Cade entered into an agreement providing Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (SVC), a canned-food packaging company, with the U.S. rights to production and sale of Gatorade as a commercial product. In the same year, a licensing arrangement made Gatorade the official sports drink of the
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
(NFL), representing the first in a history of professional sports sponsorship for the Gatorade brand. A year after its commercial introduction, SVC tested multiple variations of the original Gatorade recipe, finally settling on more palatable variants in lemon-lime and orange flavors. This reformulation also removed the sweetener cyclamate—which was banned by the
Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
(FDA) in 1969 - replacing it with additional
fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a ketonic simple sugar found in many plants, where it is often bonded to glucose to form the disaccharide sucrose. It is one of the three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorb ...
. In the early 1970s, legal questions arose regarding whether or not the researchers who invented Gatorade were entitled to ownership of its royalties since they had been working under a research grant from the federal government which provided financial stipends. The University of Florida also claimed partial rights of ownership, which was brought to resolution in 1973 in the form of a settlement awarding the university with a 20% share of Gatorade royalties. As of 2009, the university had received more than $150 million from its share and was receiving approximately $12 million per year. The Quaker Oats Company purchased SVC and Gatorade in 1983 for $220 million, following a bidding war with rival Pillsbury. In its first two decades of production, Gatorade was primarily sold and distributed within the United States. Beginning in the 1980s, the company expanded distribution of Gatorade, venturing into Canada in 1984, regions of Asia in 1987, South America and parts of Europe in 1988, and Australia in 1993. In 1990, Gatorade introduced Gatorade Light, a lower-calorie version sweetened with saccharin. International expansion came at the cost of $20 million in 1996 alone; however, the resulting efforts produced worldwide sales of $283 million in more than 45 countries during the same year. In 1997, distribution of Gatorade in an additional 10 countries prompted an 18.7% growth in annual sales. In 2001, the multinational food and beverage company PepsiCo acquired Gatorade's parent company, the Quaker Oats Company, for $13 billion in order to add Gatorade to its portfolio of brands. PepsiCo had also recently developed
All Sport History All Sport was launched by PepsiCo in 1994 as a competitor to The Coca-Cola Company’s Powerade and Gatorade, which at the time was a separate entity owned by Quaker Oats. After PepsiCo's 2001 acquisition of Quaker, All Sport was sold t ...
, which it divested of shortly following the Quaker acquisition to satisfy
antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
regulations. Worldwide development of Gatorade continued into the 2000s, including expansion into India in 2004, and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
and
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...
in 2008. As of 2010, Gatorade products were made available for sale in more than 80 countries. As the number-one sports drink by annual retail sales in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Italy, Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Gatorade is also among the leading sports drink brands in
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic ...
and Australia. As the distribution of Gatorade expanded outside of the U.S., localized flavors were introduced to conform to regional tastes and cultural preferences, among other factors. For example, Blueberry is available in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, and in
Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, a Pineapple flavor of Gatorade is sold. In Australia, flavors include Antarctic Freeze and Wild Water Rush. Some flavors that have been discontinued in the U.S., such as Alpine Snow and Starfruit, have since been made available in other countries. In 2011, Gatorade was re-introduced to
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
by
Bluebird Foods Bluebird Foods Ltd is a New Zealand division of the U.S.-based PepsiCo corporation, that manufactures snack foods, cereals and muesli bars. All snacks are manufactured at the Bluebird Foods factory in Wiri, Auckland. History Originally par ...
, a PepsiCo subsidiary in New Zealand. The product is made in Australia by
Schweppes Australia Schweppes Australia is the non-alcohol business of Asahi Breweries operating in Australia, having arrived in the country in 1850. In 1877, the first factory was built in Sydney. After an international merger with Cadbury in 1969, forming Cadbur ...
, and imported to New Zealand and distributed along with Bluebird potato chips. In September 2022, Gatorade introduced Fast Twitch, its first caffeinated energy drink that had 200 milligrams of caffeine, electrolytes, and B vitamins but contained no sugar or carbonation. The company said it was designed to be taken in before a regular beverage consumed for hydration. It was an example of a broader push by PepsiCo into energy beverages.


Products

In its early years, the Gatorade brand consisted of a single product line, Gatorade Thirst Quencher, which was produced in liquid and powder form under two flavor variants: ''Lemon Lime'' and ''Orange''. These remained as the only two flavor options for nearly 20 years, until the addition of the ''fruit punch'' flavor in 1983. In 1988 a ''Citrus Cooler'' flavor was introduced. The rise to popularity of this flavor was largely a result of Michael Jordan, who, at the height of his NBA career in the early 1990s, stated that it was his favorite flavor. This claim appeared on the packaging beginning in 1991, as part of a 10-year endorsement deal. The Citrus Cooler flavor was reportedly discontinued at some point in the 1990s; however, even as late as 2011, it was listed as being a current product in the U.S. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as well as the late 1990s to early 2000s, a Gatorade brand of chewing gum called Gator Gum was produced. The product, manufactured by Fleer Corporation, was available in both of Gatorade's original flavors (lemon-lime and orange). In the late 1970s, Stokely-Van Camp (owner of Gatorade before 1983) negotiated a long-term licensing deal with Swell and Vicks to market Gator Gum. The gum was discontinued in 1989 after the contract expired. It was not until the mid and late 1990s that Gatorade beverages became available in a broader range of flavor variations. Among these initial flavor extensions were ''Watermelon'', introduced in 1995, and ''Cherry Rush'', ''Strawberry Kiwi'', and ''Mandarina'' flavors, added in 1996. In January 1997 Gatorade launched a new sub-line called Gatorade Frost with the intent of broadening the brand's appeal beyond traditional team competitive sports. Three initial flavors under the Frost product line were introduced at this time: ''Alpine Snow'', ''Glacier Freeze'', and ''Whitewater Splash''. Aimed at what the company described as the 'active thirst' category—a market 10 times the size of the sports drink segment—Gatorade Frost proved to be successful, far surpassing the company's initial expectations. Flavors in the Frost line were the first from Gatorade to divert from fruit names; it was described as consisting of "light-tasting fruit-flavor blends". Gatorade revealed the Gatorade Energy Bar in 2001. This bar was Gatorade's first foray into solid foods and was introduced to compete with PowerBar and
Clif Bar Clif Bar & Company is an American company that produces energy foods and drinks. The company's flagship product, CLIF Bar, was created by Gary Erickson and Lisa Thomas. The company is based in Emeryville, California and was privately held unti ...
. Gatorade Energy Bars contained a large proportion of protein, in addition to carbohydrates. The bar was primarily made up of puffed grains and corn syrup, common components of other energy bars. In 2001, Gatorade introduced the Gatorade Performance Series, a special line of sports nutrition products. These products include ''Gatorade Carbohydrate Energy Drink'', ''Gatorade Protein Recovery Shake'', the ''Gatorade Nutrition Shake'', and the ''Gatorade Nutrition Bar''. The ''Endurance Formula'', introduced in 2004, contained twice the sodium and three times the potassium of the typical Gatorade formula as well as
chloride The chloride ion is the anion (negatively charged ion) Cl−. It is formed when the element chlorine (a halogen) gains an electron or when a compound such as hydrogen chloride is dissolved in water or other polar solvents. Chloride s ...
,
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ...
, and
calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar ...
, to better replace what athletes lose while training and competing. Introduced in 2002, Gatorade Ice was marketed as a lighter flavored Gatorade and came in Strawberry, Lime, Orange, and Watermelon. All of these flavors were colorless and transparent. Ice was re-branded in 2006 as Gatorade Rain and the flavor selections altered. In late 2007, a low-calorie line of Gatorade drinks, named G2, was released. G2 was meant for athletes off the field and the yoga crowd. , G2 has been produced in eight flavors: ''Orange'', ''Fruit Punch'', ''Grape'', ''Lemon-Lime'', ''Tropical blend'', ''Blueberry-Pomegranate'', ''Raspberry Melon'', and ''Glacier Freeze''.
SymphonyIRI Group IRI (Information Resources, Inc.) is a data analytics and market research company headquartered in the United States. The company provides clients with consumer, shopper, and retail market intelligence as well as analysis on consumer packaged go ...
named G2 the "top new food product of 2008", noting that the product generated retail sales of $159.1 million in its first full year of production. Gatorade Tiger was a Gatorade Thirst Quencher sports drink formed as the result of a sponsorship arrangement with
Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...
. Debuting in March 2008, Gatorade Tiger was available in ''Red Drive'' (cherry), ''Cool Fusion'' (lemon-lime), and ''Quiet Storm'' (grape). Gatorade Tiger contained 25% more electrolytes than Gatorade Thirst Quencher. As part of the 2009 rebranding, Gatorade Tiger was re-labeled as Focus. It was reformulated, adding the amino acid theanine, which is naturally found in many forms of tea, improving mental focus. Focus contained about 25 mg per serving or 50 mg per bottle. On November 25, 2009, it was reported by '' Beverage Digest'', and later confirmed by PepsiCo, that they had made a decision, several months before November 2009, to discontinue some products to make room for the Prime and Recover products as part of a then-upcoming G Series re-branding. In 2015, the Gatorade Energy gummies made their debut along with the Gatorade energy bar.


Re-branding

In 2010, Gatorade re-branded a number of its products. Original Gatorade was initially re-labeled as Gatorade G. Gatorade Rain was re-labeled as No Excuses. Gatorade AM was re-labeled Shine On; Gatorade X-Factor was relabeled as Be Tough, and Gatorade Fierce was relabeled Bring It. However, these names were short-lived, as a 2% decline in market share in 2009 led to a broader repositioning of the entire line in 2010. Beginning in February 2010, the Gatorade product portfolio was re-positioned around what the company refers to as the G Series, categorizing varieties of its products into three main segments: before, during, and after athletic events. * The Prime 01 product line consists of a pre-game fuel in a gel consistency, positioned for consumption prior to athletic activity. * Traditional Gatorade products such as ''Gatorade Thirst Quencher'' (Original Gatorade), ''G2'', and ''Gatorade Powder'' are categorized under the Perform 02 classification, representing their intention for consumption during periods of physical exertion. * Recover 03 refers to a post-workout
protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
and
carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may o ...
drink, formulated with the consistency of a sports drink. The composition of this beverage reflects its intention to provide both
hydration Hydration may refer to: * Hydrate, a substance that contains water * Hydration enthalpy, energy released through hydrating a substance * Hydration reaction, a chemical addition reaction where a hydroxyl group and proton are added to a compound * ...
and muscle recovery after exercise. G Series Pro, a brand extension initially developed for professional athletes, began to be sold in GNC and
Dick's Sporting Goods Dick's Sporting Goods, Inc. (stylized as "DICK'S Sporting Goods") is an American sporting goods retail company, based in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania. The company was established by Richard "Dick" Stack in 1948, and has approximately 854 stores ...
stores in the U.S. in 2010 after first being available only in professional locker rooms and specialized training facilities. Also in 2010, Gatorade introduced the G Natural Gatorade line which is made with "natural flavors and ingredients", specifically sweetened with
Stevia Stevia () is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species ''Stevia rebaudiana'', native to Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), which ...
and sold in
Whole Foods Whole Foods Market IP, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon, is an upscale American multinational supermarket chain headquartered in Austin, Texas, which sells products free from hydrogenated fats and artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. A US ...
grocery stores within the United States. G Natural was released in two flavors: G Orange Citrus and G2 Berry. The G Series began to replace prior iterations of Gatorade product lines in the U.S. (the brand's highest volume market) in 2010, and Canada in 2011.
While Gatorade products have historically been developed for athletes engaging in competitive sporting events, a separate line of products formulated for consumption before, during and after personal fitness exercise was introduced in the U.S. in 2011. Labeled under the name G Series FIT, this product line consists of pre-workout fruit-and-nut bites, lightly flavored electrolyte replacement drinks, as well as post-workout protein recovery smoothies. In March 2021, Gatorade released Gx Sweat patch, which measures a user's sweat and hydration. It is the company's first wearable product.


Composition and health concerns

The original Gatorade is based on oral rehydration therapy, a mixture of salt, sugar, and water, with the citrus-based flavoring and added food coloring. The composition of individual Gatorade products varies depending upon the product in question, as well as the country in which it is sold. Gatorade Thirst Quencher contains water,
sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...
(table sugar),
dextrose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, usin ...
,
citric acid Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in ...
, natural flavor,
sodium chloride Sodium chloride , commonly known as salt (although sea salt also contains other chemical salts), is an ionic compound with the chemical formula NaCl, representing a 1:1 ratio of sodium and chloride ions. With molar masses of 22.99 and 35. ...
(table salt),
sodium citrate Sodium citrate may refer to any of the sodium salts of citric acid (though most commonly the third): * Monosodium citrate * Disodium citrate * Trisodium citrate The three forms of salt are collectively known by the E number E331. Applications ...
,
monopotassium phosphate Monopotassium phosphate (MKP) (also, potassium dihydrogenphosphate, KDP, or monobasic potassium phosphate) is the inorganic compound with the formula KH2PO4. Together with dipotassium phosphate (K2HPO4.(H2O)x) it is often used as a fertilizer, f ...
, and flavoring/coloring ingredients. Some Gatorade flavor variations used to contain
brominated vegetable oil Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a complex mixture of plant-derived triglycerides that have been reacted to contain atoms of the element bromine bonded to the molecules. Brominated vegetable oil is used primarily to help emulsify citrus-flavored ...
as a stabilizer. Brominated vegetable oil was discontinued in 2013, and has been replaced with sucrose acetate isobutyrate. An serving of Gatorade Perform 02 (Gatorade Thirst Quencher) contains 50 calories, 14 grams of carbohydrates, 110 mg sodium and 30 mg potassium. Gatorade Thirst Quencher is sweetened using a
sucrose Sucrose, a disaccharide, is a sugar composed of glucose and fructose subunits. It is produced naturally in plants and is the main constituent of white sugar. It has the molecular formula . For human consumption, sucrose is extracted and refine ...
-
dextrose Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, usin ...
mix. For a period of time in the 1990s and early 2000s, high fructose corn syrup was used to sweeten Gatorade distributed in North America, but as of 2011, the drink is once again sweetened with a sucrose–dextrose combination, which the company describes as being "preferred by consumers". G2 and G2 Natural, labeled as being "lower calorie" variants, are sweetened in part with
PureVia PureVia is a stevia-based low calorie sugar substitute developed jointly by PepsiCo and Whole Earth Sweetener Company which is a wholly owned subsidiary of artificial sweetener manufacturing company Merisant. It is currently distributed and marke ...
, an extract of the
Stevia Stevia () is a natural sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of the plant species ''Stevia rebaudiana'', native to Paraguay and Brazil. The active compounds are steviol glycosides (mainly stevioside and rebaudioside), which ...
plant. The presence of calories, sugar, and sodium in Gatorade products has drawn attention from public school constituents, who have raised question over whether the sale of Gatorade beverages should be permitted in such schools. In 2010, California Governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
sponsored a bill () which proposed a ban on the sale of sports drinks in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
schools. In 2015, the
University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It ...
began to phase out the sale of sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks in its cafeterias,
vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that provides items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The fi ...
s, and campus catering and retail locations, and began to "sell only zero-calorie beverages or non-sweetened drinks with nutritional value, such as milk and 100% juice". There are 34 g of sugar (8 teaspoons) in one 20 oz bottle of regular Gatorade. The USDA's recommended daily maximum of added sugars per person is about 50 grams. According to the
American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and deat ...
, the recommended maximum amount of sugar is 25 grams per day for women and 36 grams per day for men. The American Heart Association states that children and teens should drink no more than 8 ounces of sugary beverages per week. In 2012, a study on nearly 11,000 teens reported that "teens put on even more weight if they drank a bottle of sports drink each day, averaging 3.5 pounds for every sports drink consumed per day". The researchers concluded, "We need to educate parents and clinicians about what constitutes a sugary drink... Sports drinks are promoted by professional athletes as a healthy drink, but they really don't need to be used by kids unless they are continually exercising for long periods or they're in hot climates." The USDA states that the average American will consume of sugar each year, almost a half-pound (about 225 g) of sugar per day. One of the most prevalent ways that sugar is consumed is through drinks. Most people do not notice the amount of sugar that one given drink can have. In January 2013, the Gatorade manufacturer (PepsiCo) agreed to remove
brominated vegetable oil Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a complex mixture of plant-derived triglycerides that have been reacted to contain atoms of the element bromine bonded to the molecules. Brominated vegetable oil is used primarily to help emulsify citrus-flavored ...
from its Gatorade products in the USA amidst health concerns. The composition of Gatorade in Europe, Japan and India remain unaffected as BVO was outlawed there 23 years earlier.


Research and development

Gatorade's inventors went on to develop new sports drinks. Gatorade's owners sued to acquire rights to these new products, but they never made them available publicly. First, Shires and Cade developed Go!, a drink that, unlike Gatorade, contained protein to stimulate muscular recovery. Stokley-Van Camp paid "a fee to have the exclusive rights for some period of time, but they never did develop it". In 1989, Dr. Cade created a new sports drink that he claimed was more effective than Gatorade. The new product was called TQ2, shorthand for Thirst Quencher 2. The patent application read: "The invention described here is a novel fluid composition which surprisingly and advantageously maintains blood volume at levels well above those observed in the absence of fluids or even with Gatorade." In an experiment with cyclists, Cade found that TQ2 allowed athletes to endure for 30% longer than Gatorade. Cade pitched the TQ2 product to Pepsi and other beverage companies. Meanwhile, Gatorade's owner Quaker sued Cade. After years of legal proceedings, Cade was forced to sell TQ2 to Quaker in 1993. Quaker "bagged" TQ2, never releasing it to the public. Gatorade claimed that its research found that TQ2 was not an improvement over the original Gatorade formula. Cade, on the other hand, continued to stand by his product. He accused Quaker and Gatorade of stifling the publication of the research behind TQ2. The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI), a research facility operated in
Barrington, Illinois Barrington is a village in Cook County and Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,722 at the 2020 census. A northwest suburb of Chicago, the area features wetlands, forest preserves, parks, and horse trails in a country- ...
, has been featured in a number of the company's commercials. Established in 1985, this organization consists of scientists studying the correlation and effects of exercise, environmental variables, and nutrition on the human body. According to Darren Rovell, "GSSI was created at a time when there was a lot of scientific controversy, since there wasn't much public evidence that Gatorade actually worked...GSSI was also created to be part of Gatorade’s powerful marketing arm." It regularly conducts testing and research on how hydration and nutrition affect athletic performance. Professional athletes such as Eli Manning
as well as collegiate and amateur athletes have been involved in fitness testing programs at the GSSI, which in part have led to innovations in new Gatorade formula variations and product lines. In 2001, the GSSI observed that professional race car drivers were not maintaining adequate levels of hydration during races, attributable to the nature of drivers enduring multiple-hour races in high temperatures. As a result, it developed a product called the "Gatorade In-Car Drinking System", which has since been implemented in the vehicles of many professional race car drivers. In addition to the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, Gatorade sponsors external health and fitness research. In 1992, Gatorade paid the
American College of Sports Medicine The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a sports medicine and exercise science membership organization. Founded in 1954, ACSM holds conferences, publishes books and journals, and offers certif ...
(ACSM) $250,000. A year later, Gatorade and the American College of Sports Medicine held a roundtable meeting on "exercise and fluid replacement". The ACSM published the meeting's results in 1996, advising athletes to drink "at a rate sufficient to replace all the water lost through sweating" or "the maximal amount that can be tolerated". Gatorade continues to sponsor the American College of Sports Medicine, though the exact amount it pays is not public.


Advertising and publicity

Early Gatorade advertisements claimed that the drink moved through the body 12 times faster than water. Research found that this was not true - Gatorade moves through the body at the same speed as water. Gatorade removed the claim from its advertisements. Gatorade advertisements have claimed that athletes need to consume at least "40 oz. per hour or your performance could suffer". South African exercise physiologist Dr. Tim Noakes found that Cynthia Lucero died from exercise-associated hyponatremic encephalopathy drinking Gatorade at "the rate recommended by the advertisements". Gatorade is the official sports drink of the NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, USA Basketball, NHL,
Association of Volleyball Professionals The Association of Volleyball Professionals (AVP) is the biggest and longest-running professional beach volleyball tour in the United States. Founded in 1983, the AVP is headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The AVP operates as a 3-tiered ...
,
Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federa ...
, High School Sports Teams,
NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...
, and other professional and collegiate athletic organizations, providing supplies of the drinks to sponsored teams in some cases. Distribution was extended to include the U.K. in 2008, coinciding with an agreement designating Gatorade as the official sports drink of Chelsea F.C. (for outside of the U.S. and
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
) Gatorade's 1991 ''
Be Like Mike ''Be Like Mike'' is a television advertisement for Gatorade starring American professional basketball player Michael Jordan. Created by advertising agency Bayer Bess Vanderwarker, it featured various children and adults playing basketball with ...
'' ads featured
Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
of the Chicago Bulls, a North American
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
team which had just won its first
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
championship at the time. The ads began airing in August 1991 and "Be Like Mike" became a household phrase in the United States. In 2015, new versions of the ads were produced to commemorate the brand's 50th anniversary. In more recent years, the Gatorade brand has continued to employ professional sports athletes in the promotion of its products. Primary endorsers in the 2000s have included
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
player
Derek Jeter Derek Sanderson Jeter ( ; born June 26, 1974) is an American former professional baseball shortstop, businessman, and baseball executive. As a player, Jeter spent his entire 20-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career with the New York Yankees ...
of the
New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...
,
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...
player Sidney Crosby of the
Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...
,
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues i ...
player
Dwyane Wade Dwyane Tyrone Wade Jr. (; born January 17, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Wade spent the majority of his 16-year career playing for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and won three NBA cham ...
of the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls,
PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...
golfer
Tiger Woods Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in PGA Tour wins, ranks second in men's major championships, and holds numerous golf records. * * * Woods is widely regarded as ...
, and
National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...
quarterback
Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...
of the
Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...
and
Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...
. In April 2014 it was announced that Gatorade would become an official supplier to
Formula 1 Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
team Sahara Force India. Gatorade became the main global sponsor for the
UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...
starting in the 2015-18 cycle outside of
North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and th ...
. In November 2021, Gatorade signed UConn basketball superstar
Paige Bueckers Paige Madison Bueckers ( ; born October 20, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the University of Connecticut (UConn) Huskies of the Big East Conference. At Hopkins High School in Minnetonka, Minnesota, Bueckers was ranked as th ...
, making her the company's first college endorser since the
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...
allowed athletes at its member schools to receive compensation for product endorsements. At the time, other athlete endorsers included basketball players
Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 200 ...
, Jayson Tatum, and
Zion Williamson Zion Lateef Williamson (born July 6, 2000) is an American professional basketball player for the New Orleans Pelicans of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He plays the power forward position. Following a freshman-year stint with the ...
; NFL quarterback
Trevor Lawrence William Trevor Lawrence (born October 6, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). Considered among the highest-touted college football prospects, he won the 2019 National Ch ...
; track star
Sydney McLaughlin Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone (, born August 7, 1999) is an American hurdler and sprinter who competes in the 400 meters hurdles. She is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion with the Games record, and 2022 World champion with a world record time of 50 ...
, and tennis great
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
. Gatorade also hosts a variety of awards given to high school athletes who excel in their respective sports. One prominent award given is the Gatorade National Football Player of the Year.


The Gatorade shower

The Gatorade shower, originally called the "Gatorade Dunk", is an American sports tradition in which players from a victorious team sneak up behind the head coach with a Gatorade cooler and pour the entire contents (generally Gatorade and ice) over his head at the end of an
American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...
game. This tradition was popularized in the mid-1980s when Harry Carson and Jim Burt, of the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...
, doused head coach Bill Parcells during the 1985 season. Burt's teammates picked up on this practice and popularized it during the team's championship season of 1986–87. The tradition has since become a recurring tradition across other team sports, including
Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...
. The name may be used even when other drinks such as water or Powerade are substituted.


Gatorade and oral rehydration

In the aftermath of the 1994
Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide occurred between 7 April and 15 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. During this period of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi minority ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Twa, were killed by armed Hutu ...
, aid agencies were struggling to save the lives of thousands of Rwandan refugees dying of
dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water, with an accompanying disruption of metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds free water intake, usually due to exercise, disease, or high environmental temperature. Mil ...
due to
cholera Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium '' Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting an ...
in camps in eastern
Zaire Zaire (, ), officially the Republic of Zaire (french: République du Zaïre, link=no, ), was a Congolese state from 1971 to 1997 in Central Africa that was previously and is now again known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Zaire was, ...
. The aid agency
AmeriCares Americares is a global non-profit organization focused on health and development that respond to individuals affected by poverty, disaster, or crisis. The organization addresses poverty, disasters, or crises with medicine, medical supplies and h ...
was heavily criticized for choosing to provide Gatorade as a form of oral rehydration solution. ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' stated:
But while Gatorade might be good for athletes, it is not good for cholera, said Dr. Michael Toole, an
epidemiologist Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population. It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evid ...
at the Centers for Disease Control. Gatorade does not have all the essential ingredients that an I.V. has, and people who were given it might have taken more appropriate solutions, Dr. Toole said.
AmeriCares' president responded: "We stand by our decision to ship Gatorade to Rwandan refugees. In the absence of
potable water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, ...
, Gatorade, with its electrolytes and water, saved countless lives in a true triage situation." Two studies have suggested that Gatorade is at least as effective in treating dehydration as oral rehydration therapies for adults or Pedialyte for children between the ages of 5 and 12. In both studies, however, potassium deficiency ( hypokalemia) was more common in patients receiving Gatorade. Pedialyte and Gatorade are both designed to prevent or treat dehydration. In fact, thanks to their electrolyte content, they're more effective than water at rehydrating.https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/pedialyte-vs-gatorade, What's the Difference Between Pedialyte and Gatorade?, By Ariane Lang, BSc, MBA on March 10, 2021 — Medically reviewed by Jillian Kubala, MS, RD, Nutrition


See also

* Powerade, the main competitor of Gatorade * Food coloring * Sports drink


References


External links


Gatorade.com

Gatorade Sports Science Institute

Gatorade page on PepsiCo International UK & Ireland

Which University created Gatorade as a way of enhancing their football teams performance?
{{University of Florida Florida Gators Products introduced in 1965 Products introduced in 1967