People Are Just Finding Out How Gatorade Is Made And It’s Actually Pretty Cool
Gatorade — it’s that slightly salty, totally sweet sports drink that works wonders for heat exhaustion and dehydration.
Sure, you’d usually find us talking about Gatorade during those hot summer months when sweat is at its peak. BUT, there is one TikTok user who claims to know how Gatorade is made, and it has our full attention.
German Lopez — who’s video and account have since been deleted — racked up more than 4 million views on his TikTok video alleging to know the secrets behind how Gatorade is bottled — and it’s pretty cool.
In the video, Lopez shows himself opening up a plastic bottle, and pouring its red contents down the drain. Though the bottle had no label, it was obviously a bottle of the fruity flavored Gatorade that we all know and love.
In a text overlay of the picture, Lopez wrote, “Did you know that Gatorade is made at 180 degrees?”
Now, that had several commenters slightly freaked out. There is all kinds of research that shows that when you heat a plastic bottle, chemicals can be leached into the contents which can cause cancer.
Red dye, boiling hot, in plastic…I needed this knowledge
Top comment on the German Lopez Gatorade bottle TikTok
Yeah, this doesn’t seem like an ideal way to bottle Gatorade — or any other drink that comes in a plastic bottle.
Great straight into plastic bottles for enhanced microplastic consumption
Comment on the German Lopez Gatorade bottle TikTok
BUT, as German Lopez explained in the comments, Gatorade is actually heated to 180 degrees because “It’s actually pasteurized temperatures to keep from all toxins and then cooled after.”
According to Yahoo Life, Gatorade is not the only beverage that is bottled this way.
There is actually a term for bottling beverages this way: Hot Filling. This is when a liquid is heated to this pasteurization temperature, and then immediately bottled to keep it sterile.
Not only is the drink pasteurized and sterile, it is a more environmentally safe way to hold the liquid.
Why?
The lighter plastic bottles cut down on PET resin (“a clear, strong and lightweight plastic belonging to the polyester family” used in food packaging) — to the tune of 1 million pounds on an annual basis!
So, next time you reach for one of those sporty drinks, you can feel assured that they have been packaged for your protection, and in the most environmentally friendly way possible.
