Gatorade is one of the most popular sports drink brands and the most popular sports drink in the United States.
Gatorade was invented at the University of Florida as a recovery drink for Florida Gator football players, and today it is produced by PepsiCo. The sports drink is marketed as “performance athlete fuel” because it contains electrolytes, which are essential minerals, not caffeine – a stimulant.
Gatorade continues to dominate the sports drink market as the official sponsor of many elite athletes and teams, and is a popular staple in many households across the United States.
However, the sports drink did not achieve the same success in Europe due to the ban on one of its main ingredients.
Why has Gatorade been banned in other countries?
In 2012, the European Union banned an ingredient called brominated vegetable oil (BVO), an ingredient used to make Gatorade. As a result, the sports drink was discontinued in Europe. The same ingredient has also been banned in Japan, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to consider Gatorade to be safe for consumption.
Since then, Gatorade has removed this ingredient, and in 2013, to restore the drink’s popularity, Gatorade signed a sponsorship agreement with FC Barcelona and football legend Lionel Messi.
What other countries have this ban?
However, Gatorade also contains food dyes, Yellow 5 and Yellow 6, which provide the drink’s vibrant colors. These artificial colors are banned in infant and child food in the European Union, and any products containing these dyes must also carry warnings. Yellow 5 and Yellow 6 are completely banned in Norway and Austria.
Popular American foods banned in other countries
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BVO is a common additive in citrus-flavored soft drinks like Mountain Dew. According to the Mayo Clinic, “[brominated vegetable oil] They are sometimes used to keep the citrus flavor from separating in soft drinks and other drinks.”
Skittles
Skittles, like Gatorade, contain food dyes Yellow 5, Yellow 6 and Red 40. These additives are known to have adverse effects on young children and are therefore banned in baby food in the European Union, and foods containing Dyes carry a warning label. Norway and Austria completely ban them.
Ritz Crackers
Ritz Crackers is one of the leading brands in the cracker industry in the United States. The cracker of the same name contains partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, an industrial trans fat banned in Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Iceland, Norway and Denmark.
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