Gatorade is a flavored non-carbonated sports drink manufactured by the Quaker Oats Company, now a division of PepsiCo. Intended for consumption during physically active occasions, Gatorade is formulated to rehydrate and replenish fluid, carbohydrates and electrolytes.

History

Robert Cade, Dick Malonis, Harry James Free, and Dana Shires were the medical researchers at the University of Florida who created Gatorade in 1965. The Gators football coach, Ray Graves, was frustrated with the performance of his players during the hot summer football practices, and asked the team doctor, one of Cade's associates, for his insight. Cade and his research team came across the unique mix of water, sodium, sugar, potassium, phosphate, and lemon juice that is now known as Gatorade in honor of the football team, the Gators. The football team credited Gatorade with their first Orange Bowl win over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in 1967, and the drink became an instant phenomenon. The Yellow Jackets coach Bud Carson, when asked why they lost, replied: "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference."

Shortly after, Cade partnered with Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce and distribute the product. A year after its commercial introduction Gatorade was reformulated, as its initial recipe contained the sweetener cyclamate, which was banned by the FDA. The Quaker Oats Company bought S-VC in 1983, after a bidding war with rival Pillsbury. Quaker licensed manufacturing of Gatorade in some worldwide markets to PepsiCo, but sued Pepsi in Australia in 1998, alleging Pepsi had misappropriated Gatorade trade secrets to manufacture its own sports drink, All Sport. Quaker won the Australian case. In the meantime, the University of Florida has received royalties for Gatorade each year, since their settlement with Cade in 1973.

Gatorade is the official sports drink of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball Association, USA Basketball, National Hockey League, Association of Volleyball Professionals, US Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, and many other pro and collegiate organizations, providing supplies of the drinks to the teams in all flavors available. Gatorade extended their market to the U.K. in 2008 and promoted this in part by becoming the sports drink provider for Chelsea F.C..

Composition

The original Gatorade contained water, sucrose (table sugar) and glucose-fructose syrups, citric acid, Fish oil, sodium chloride (table salt), sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate,and flavoring/coloring ingredients. Some Gatorade flavorings use brominated vegetable oil as a stabilizer. Gatorade Thirst Quencher meets the Food and Drug Administration's definition of a "low sodium product." Gatorade is available in a variety of flavors, including the original Lemon-Lime, Grape, Orange, and Fruit punch, as well as, Gatorade AM, Rain, Frost, X-Factor, Xtremo, Tiger, and Fierce.