Free Republic

Coca-Cola is dropping a controversial ingredient from its Powerade sports drink, after a similar move by PepsiCo’s Gatorade last year. The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, had been the target of a petition by a Mississippi teenager, who questioned why it was being used in a drink marketed toward health-conscious athletes. The petition on Change.org noted that the ingredient is linked to a flame retardant and is not approved for use in Japan or the European Union. In response to customer feedback, PepsiCo said last year it would drop the ingredient from Gatorade. At the time, Coca-Cola declined to say whether...

SPRINGFIELD — The mystery of the missing Powerade at the federal courthouse wasn’t very mysterious for long.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - Coca-Cola, fearing Wal-Mart would launch its own sports drink to rival the beverage giant's Powerade if it didn't agree to the retailer's new distribution terms, caved under the pressure and altered its own century-old supply system, a published report said Thursday. Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, asked Coke last year to switch to the straight-to-warehouse delivery method, and Coke's largest bottler, Coca-Cola Enterprises (Research) (CCE), began doing so across much of the U.S. in April, the Wall Street Journal said. But according to June 1 court filing by Coke, the company stated that it faced a...

Move over Michael Jordan. There is a new sports drink flavor ready for the tasting — and it belongs to the Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James. James will officially get his own drink when the 32-ounce bottles of Powerade FLAVA23 hit stores next month. This means James has outdone the ubiquitous Jordan, who appeared on bottles of Gatorade without having a flavor to himself.

MADISON, Ill. - National Hot Rod Association drag racer Darrell Russell died Sunday night from injuries suffered in a violent crash during the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Gateway International Raceway. Russell, a 35-year-old native of Hockley, Texas, had just lost to Scott Kalitta in the second round of eliminations when his Top Fuel dragster crashed while running about 300 mph at the end of the quarter-mile strip at Gateway International Raceway. The crash occurred around 6:30 p.m. Central time. Just less than two hours later Graham Light, NHRA senior vice president of racing operations, announced to the media that Russell...