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Dr Robert Cade, inventor of Gatorade
THE retired Florida professor who invented Gatorade, the hydrating drink that created a multibillion-dollar sports beverage market, has died at the aged of 80.Dr Robert Cade created the drink in 1965 to help rehydrate University of Florida athletes during games in the southern state's punishing heat and named it after the university's mascot, the gator. Gatorade became a worldwide success and spawned a generation of copycat sports beverages. It held an 81 per cent share of the $US7.5 billion ($8.5bn) sports drink market last year, according to Beverage Digest. It has earned about $US150 million in royalties for the school, including an average of $US12.5m annually over the last five years, university spokesman Tom Fortner said today. . . . According to the product's website, a university assistant football coach asked a team of scientists at the school to determine why players were being affected by heat-related illnesses. Dr Cade and his colleagues determined that fluids and electrolytes lost through sweat and carbohydrates used for energy were not being replaced. They created a carbohydrate-electrolyte formula in the lab to nourish the players during games. University legend has it that the Gators football team began winning soon after the drink was introduced. Posted by: Mike 2007-11-29 |
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