Do we like them?

Do we like Gatorade?

Sports drink brand making Gatorade and Gatorlyte, owned by PepsiCo. PepsiCo is based in Purchase, New York, US.

Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. Gatorade is a long-standing brand that is now dropping artificial dyes. It has also had marketing and health-claim disputes, and its parent PepsiCo faces a plastic pollution suit.

Gatorade is a sports drink brand that PepsiCo owns. It has had a few legal scrapes over how it markets its products. Most of these were settled rather than fought to a verdict.

California settled claims over a 2012 Usain Bolt game promoting Gatorade, taking a $300,000 payment. The deal also bars the company from negatively depicting water in its advertising. A separate class action over Gatorade protein bar health claims was resolved, with PepsiCo calling the claims implausible.

On the good side, PepsiCo announced it would drop artificial colors from Gatorade. Powder sticks go first, then Fruit Punch, Lemon Lime and Orange by fall. Health Secretary RFK Jr. praised the move. Reports say PepsiCo hasn't committed to the government's end-2026 goal for its whole range.

The bigger worry is the parent company. New York's attorney general sued PepsiCo over plastic waste in the Buffalo River and accused it of misleading the public about its efforts to tackle plastic pollution. That coverage dates from 2023, and our searches didn't show how the case ended. We score Gatorade a middling 5.