Course:FNH200/Assignments/2022/Gatorade vs Gatorade Zero

Introduction

Gatorade is a popular sports drink used mainly by athletes to hydrate themselves and restore their electrolyte balance. Gatorade Zero is the zero-sugar alternative to Gatorade, it was created for people suffering from metabolic conditions like diabetes, or for people that are conscious of their calorie and sugar consumption. Gatorade Zero also enables the athlete or general consumer to hydrate themselves and restore their electrolyte balance, but without amassing the large number of calories of the former. Thus, we chose Gatorade and its sugar-free alternative Gatorade Zero for our project (specifically the Fruit Punch flavour).

Pictures

Gatorade is on the left, Gatorade zero is on the right.

Nutritional facts of Gatorade is on the left, Nutritional facts of Gatorade Zero is on the right.

Ingredient List of Gatorade is on the left, Ingredient List of Gatorade Zero is on the right.

Ingredient lists

Gatorade:

• Water
• Sugar
• Dextrose
• Citric acid
• Natural flavours
• Salt
• Sodium citrate
• Monopotassium phosphate
• Modified corn starch
• Ester gum
• Colour
• Caramel colour

Additives used:

• Dextrose: used as a sweetener; 20% less sweet than sucrose as it is made up of ~100% glucose whereas sucrose is 50% glucose and 50% fructose, fructose is the sweetest. Why choose dextrose? Because it is less sweet this allows manufacturers to use it as a bulking and preservative agent without causing an overt sweet flavour.
• Citric acid: used to boost acidity (maintain specific pH), enhance flavour (sour/tart) and preserve ingredients.
• Natural and artificial flavours: natural flavours are derived from plant/animal material and artificial flavours are synthesized in the lab. Used to enhance flavours. Why flavour foods? → to make processed foods more enticing and because when foods are pasteurized for safety, the chemicals that keep the foods fresh degrade through pasteurization and therefore they must be restored with natural and artificial additive flavours.
• Sodium citrate: sodium salt of citric acid for use as a buffering agent to get exact pH control, used as a flavouring agent. Adds electrolytes to gatorade drinks and maintains.
• Mono-potassium phosphate: used as a thickener, emulsifier, acidity regulator, stabilizer.
• Modified corn starch: emulsifier, stabilizer, and maintains consistent liquid viscosity.
• Colour: used for aesthetic purposes to represent a unique flavour of the beverage.
• Ester gum: this acts as a thickening agent in the drink.
• Caramel colour: contributes to the colour profile of the beverage derived from a heated sugar compound mixture.

Gatorade Zero:

• Water
• Citric acid
• Sodium citrate
• Salt
• Monopotassium phosphate: Used as a buffer system to maintain a specific pH
• Modified corn starch
• Colour
• Natural and artificial flavours
• Sucralose (45mg/710mL) → this is a sugar substitute, it is not metabolized by the body and thus contributes 0cal/g. This gives the drink a sweet taste, but it doesn't come with calories, to allow people that are diabetic or have low insulin levels to enjoy a sweet drink without getting sick
• Ester gum .
• Acesulfame potassium (K) (35mg/710mL) → this is a sugar substitute, it is not metabolized by the body and thus contributes 0cal/g. This gives the drink a sweet taste, but it doesn't come with calories, to allow people that are diabetic or have low insulin levels to enjoy a sweet drink without getting sick
• Gum Arabic
• Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate

Additives used:

• Acesulfame Potassium (sugar substitute)
• Sucralose (sugar substitute)
• Citric Acid (additive): used flavouring (sour), stabilizer, preservative
• Sodium Citrate (additive): buffering agent to maintain specific pH
• Monopotassium Phosphate (additive): emulsifier, stabilizer, thickener
• Gum Arabic (additive): emulsifier
• Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate: Emulsifier
• Ester gum (additive): emulsifier
• Colour: used to match specific flavours (eg. blue raspberry = blue colouring)

Differences:

Gatorade and Gatorade Zero are very similar in their components, only differing in the amount of sweetening agents they have. They do not contain any sugar or fat substitutes. Gatorade has 42g of sugar per bottle, Gatorade Zero has 0g of sugar per bottle, it uses zero-calorie sweetener additives: Sucralose and Acesulfame potassium to sweeten the drink instead. They both have water for hydration, salt and monopotassium phosphate for electrolytes, citric acid for a sour taste, and ester gum as thickening agents.

Labels

Below is a detailed description of the information found on their labels:

	Gatorade	Gatorade Zero
Bilingual labelling	English and French	English and French
Common name of the food	Gatorade	Gatorade Zero
Identity and Principal Place of Business	Canada	Canada
List of ingredients	Water, Sugar, Dextrose, Citric acid, Natural flavours, Salt, Sodium citrate, Monopotassium phosphate, Modified corn, Starch, Ester gum, Colour and Caramel colour	Water, Citric acid, Sodium citrate, Salt, Monopotassium phosphate, Modified corn starch, Colour, Natural and artificial flavours, Sucralose (45mg/710mL), Ester gum and Acesulfame potassium (35mg/710mL), Arabic gum, Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate
Nutrition Facts table	Calories, Fat, Sodium, Potassium, Carbohydrate and Protein	Calories, Fat, Sodium, Potassium, Carbohydrate and Protein
Net quantity of the food	710mL	710mL
Sweeteners	Dextrose	Sucralose and Acesulfame potassium
Nutrient content claims and diet-related health claims	Not a significant source of saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium or iron	Not a significant source of saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium or iron

Both bottles include a nutrition facts label, ingredient list, and description of the beverage. Gatorade Zero reads as an “electrolyte beverage” and the flavour is listed above it. Whereas the original Gatorade reads “scientifically formulated sports drink” with the flavour listed below. Despite these differences in layout the consumer can still easily gather the information required. These labels provide consumers with important information that may impact their purchase and or their health.

The nutrition facts label tells us that the bottle contains 710 mL of Gatorade and that consuming the whole bottle is 180 calories. It also tells us that by consuming the whole bottle we will have ingested 14% (300 mg) of our recommended daily sodium intake, 2% (80 mg) of our potassium, and 15% (45 g) of our carbohydrates. Listed under carbohydrates we can read that there is 45 grams of sugar in the whole bottle. This information is strikingly different then what we see on the nutrition label for Gatorade Zero. We can read that the serving size is the same however it contains only 5 calories. Similarly, drinking the whole bottle is 13% (320 mg) of our recommended daily sodium intake and 3% (90 mg) of our potassium intake. We can see that consuming the whole bottle is only 1% (2 g) of our daily value of carbohydrates and there is 0 grams of sugar. Gatorade Zero also provides us with 6% of our daily recommended intake of chloride, which is an electrolyte that is represented as “salt” in the ingredients list. Both bottles mention that the product is not a significant source of saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, or iron. Both bottles provide zero grams of protein.

Product claims: The original Gatorade bottle says “Rehydrate. Replenish. Refuel” on the back, and describing below, “Fluids to help rehydrate. Electrolytes to help replenish what’s lost in sweat. Carbs to help refuel muscles”. In pale grey writing, printed is “Helps to maintain normal water and electrolyte balance. Carbohydrates provide energy”. These are accurate claims because there is water and electrolyte content in the beverage, and further caters to consumers who are athletes or engaging in physical activity as hydration and electrolyte storage is important before and after exercise. Gatorade Zero does not display this information.

Religious designation: Both the Gatorade and Gatorade Zero bottles display the “COR” symbol, which stands for the Kashruth Council of Canada. COR certifies that the product is kosher, meaning that it was prepared in accordance with traditional Jewish laws and can be consumed by those adhering to a kosher diet.

Based on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s labelling requirements, these products comply with the relevant regulations. The common name, “Gatorade” or “Gatorade Zero” is printed on both bottles, which is generally used when individuals refer to the product, and classified as “Sports Drink” or “Electrolyte Beverage”, respectively. Nutrient claims of electrolytes are accurate and reflected in the ingredients list. Both bottles feature bilingual labelling in English and French wording, as well as a net quantity declaration in Canadian-recognized units (metric). All wording is legible, presentation is clear, and location of information is appropriately spaced and organized. Both bottles provide storage instructions, instructing to refrigerate after storage. Both bottles provide a nutrition facts table and an ingredients list in descending order of proportion. The nutrition facts tables include amounts of the calories, fat, saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, carbohydrates, fibre, sugar, protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C. In addition, Gatorade Zero’s nutrition facts table includes the amount of chloride. Gatorade and Gatorade Zero’s ingredient lists include sweeteners that were used, with the latter displaying its sweetener additives on three separate areas of the bottle. Both bottles display a principle place of business in Canada.

References

This Food Science resource was created by Course:FNH200.