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Gatorade is a non-carbonated sports drink marketed by Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo. Originally made for athletes, it is now often consumed as a snack beverage. The drink is intended to rehydrate and to replenish the carbohydrates (in the form of sugars sucrose and glucose) and electrolytes (sodium and potassium salts) depleted during aerobic exercise, especially in warmer climates. History Gatorade was not the first sports drink that was created. In 1958, following Louisiana State's University's national championship in football, "Bengal Punch" was created by an athletic trainer. This was the first recorded sports drink, consisting of similar ingredients found today. After several years of the LSU Tigers using this drink to quench thirsts in intense heat, another drink created by Matthew Snyder and his colleagues Dr. Alex DeQuesada, Dr. Dana Shires and Dr. Jim Free at the University of Florida in 1965 for the school's football team. The name derives from the university's athletic nickname, the Gators. Dr. Cade entered into an agreement with the Indianapolis-based fruit and vegetable canning company Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. (S-VC) to produce the product, which he had already patented. In 1973 Cade and S-VC settled a lawsuit with the University of Florida, which claimed the University owned the rights for the drink's formula. The University continues to receive royalties on the trademark, and by the end of 2003 claimed to have received more than US$80 million in Gatorade royalties. * Only a year after its commercial introduction Gatorade was reformulated, as its original commercial recipe contained the sweetener cyclamate, which was banned by the FDA. * The Gators football team used Gatorade officially in 1967 and went on to win their first Orange Bowl title. They beat Georgia Tech, whose coach, when asked why they lost, replied: "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference." Gatorade was used officially in 1969 by the Kansas City Chiefs, who attributed their Super Bowl title of that year to the University of Florida sports drink. Marketed with dramatically perspiring athletic imagery, the drink became popular with non-athletes, and dietetic and low-sodium versions were added to the Gatorade product lineup. 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 August 2001, Pepsico acquired Quaker (after another bidding war, this time with arch rival Coca-Cola). Both bidders valued Quaker largely because of the Gatorade brand. In 1998, Gatorade switched from using plastic bottles to using glass bottles then back to plastic bottles in the United States. Glass bottles are not used in some markets. Along with Johnson & Johnson, Gatorade is one of the founding sponsors of the National Athletic Trainers' Association. It is also the official sports drink of the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball Association, NBA Development League, National Hockey League, US Soccer Federation, Major League Soccer, and many other pro and college organizations, providing supplies of the drinks to the teams in all flavors available. The Gatorade Shower The gatorade shower is a sports tradition involving dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade) over a winning coach's (or occasionally star player or owner's) head. This activity commonly occurs shortly after a meaningful win, but may also occur towards the end of an important game when a win is imminent. The tradition began with the New York Giants football team in the mid-80s. According to several sources, including Jim Burt of the Giants, it began in 1985 when Burt performed the action on Bill Parcells after being angered over the coach's treatment of him that week. The phenomenon gained national attention. Parcells would be doused after Super Bowl XXI. In 2005, ESPN sports business writer Darren Rovell, published a book entitled First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned the Science of Sweat into a Cultural Phenomenon, a history of Gatorade, in which he, among other things, documented the story behind the Gatorade dunking phenomenon. In this context, the word Gatorade is often used as a verb, as in "to Gatorade the coach". GatorGum In the late 1970's and early 1980's, Gatorade sold a brand of chewing gum called GatorGum. The product was manufactured by Fleer Corporation, was available in each of Gatorade's two original flavors (lemon-lime and orange) and was rather sour-tasting by normal chewing gum standards. GatorGum's foil packaging advertised that the product "Helps Quench Thirst". Like all chewing gums, the product would not actually rehydrate the body on its own. However, it may have contained electrolytes to assist the human body with the rehydration process. Sponsorship Gatorade is an official partner and sponsor of Major League Soccer, as well as many other sports. Composition The original Gatorade contained water, sucrose (table sugar) and glucose-fructose syrups, citric acid, sodium chloride (table salt), sodium citrate, monopotassium phosphate, and flavoring/coloring ingredients. It supplies 127 mg/l of potassium and 464 mg/l of sodium, and 59 g/l of carbohydrates (in the form of sugars). The current (2006) Gatorade panel claims that Gatorade rehydrates athletes better than water because the flavor makes it easier to drink. Gatorade also markets an Energy Formula and an Endurance Formula. The Energy Formula was introduced in 2000 and contains more monosaccharides and carbohydrates for quick available energy needed during athletic competition. As a result, this formula is sweeter than regular Gatorade. It comes in 12-fluid ounce plastic bottles in the U.S. The Endurance Formula, introduced in 2004, contains more of the electrolytes (such as calcium and magnesium) than the typical Gatorade formula. The additional electrolytes replenish what the body sweats out during extended periods of physical exertion, especially in hot weather. Because of this, the Endurance Formula tastes saltier than original Gatorade. In 2000, Gatorade introduced Propel Fitness drink . Propel Fitness Water is sweetened with sucrose syrup, sucralose and acesulfame potassium, so as to have less food energy per serving than Gatorade. It was marketed for those who are more concerned with simply rehydrating than with gaining energy. Propel has the same electrolytes as Gatorade, along with some vitamins. Propel Fitness Water with Calcium was introduced in 2006. Also, in 2006, Gatorade introduced its Rain flavor line, which features a lighter, watery taste similar to its Propel line. Gatorade revealed the Gatorade line Energy Bar in 1999. This energy bar was Gatorade's first foray into solid foods, and was introduced to compete with PowerBar and Clif Bar. Gatorade Energy Bars contain a large proportion of protein in addition to its carbohydrates. The bar is mainly made up of puffed grains and corn syrup, common components of energy bars. Gatorade Sports Science Institute The Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) is a facility for researching athletics, hydration, and the "science of sweat". The headquarters are in Barrington, Illinois and were established in 1988. The facility has laboratories especially for studying nutrition, exercise physiology, and biochemistry. Competition Gatorade's main competition is POWERade, made by the Coca-Cola Company. Kool-Aid also holds a fair share of potential sports drink consumers. All Sport is a competitor marketed by Monarch Beverage Company, of Atlanta, Georgia. All Sport was marketed by PepsiCo until 2001, when Gatorade's maker, the Quaker Oats Company was acquired by PepsiCo. All Sport was sold off to the Monarch Beverage Company soon after. Outside the United States the Lucozade energy drink (manufactured since 1927 by the pharmaceutical company now known as GlaxoSmithKline) competes with Gatorade and Powerade. Lucozade's formulation differs in that it uses primarily glucose and contains caffeine. The more direct competitor to Gatorade and Powerade is Lucozade Sport. 1967 1973 1983 1993 1997 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Year unknown Flavors available outside the U.S.
Energy Bar flavors Popular culture Common substitutes A number of "electrolyte replacement drinks" have been introduced in both commercial and non-commercial contexts. Two of the more popular home recipes are: | ||||||||||
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