Pull the big 28-ounce Gatorade bottles out of the garage fridge or the team cooler and look at the flavor. If it is Lemon Lime, Lemon Lime Zero, Orange or Orange Zero, it may be part of a PepsiCo recall, because those bottles can hold yellow dyes that are not listed on the label.
Story Highlights
- Only the 28-ounce size is recalled, in four flavors: Lemon Lime, Lemon Lime Zero, Orange and Orange Zero.
- The drinks contain Yellow No. 5 and/or Yellow No. 6, two man-made food colors, that the ingredient list leaves out.
- About 122,000 cases went to stores in 37 states.
- The people at risk are those who react to Yellow No. 5, which can cause itching and hives.
How to Tell If Your Bottle Is One of Them
Start with size and flavor, then read the code printed on the bottle. PepsiCo, the company that makes Gatorade, began the recall on September 25, and on Friday, October 2, the Food and Drug Administration rated it Class II. That is the middle of the agency’s three levels. It means the product may cause health problems that are temporary or can be treated, and that the chance of serious harm is remote.
Lot codes named in reports include 091126 DL, 072226 DT, 072426 TL, 072926 TL, 073026 TL and 073126 TL. A lot code is the string of numbers and letters stamped on a bottle that shows which production run it came from. Those six are examples, not the whole list. The full list is in the Food and Drug Administration’s enforcement report under recall number H-0009-2027.
If a bottle matches, set it aside. Do not hand it to a child, a player or a guest who has reacted to food dyes before. Contact PepsiCo or the store where it was bought for instructions. PepsiCo has not said publicly whether buyers will get a refund.
What Is Wrong With the Drink
Nothing spoiled and nothing foreign got into the bottles. The problem is the label. Officials call these “undeclared” ingredients, which means something is in the drink that the ingredient list does not name. Federal rules require every color additive to be printed on the label so shoppers can avoid the ones that bother them.
Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6 are man-made dyes used to give foods and drinks a yellow or orange color. Both are approved for use in food. The Food and Drug Administration says allergic-type reactions to color additives are rare, but Yellow No. 5 can cause itching and hives in some people. A person who knows he reacts to it reads the label to stay away from it, and on these bottles the label does not warn him.
The Numbers and the States
The recall covers about 122,000 cases. One report puts the exact count at 122,021. The bottles were shipped to 37 states, among them California, Florida, Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, along with much of the South, the Midwest and the West. Alaska and Hawaii are on the list too.
The recall notice names only the 28-ounce bottles in the four flavors listed above. A bottle of another size or another flavor is not named in it.
What Families and Coaches Should Do
Gatorade gets bought by the case for ball games, job sites, hunting trips and church events, so one purchase can reach a lot of people. Whoever stocks the cooler should sort out the 28-ounce Lemon Lime and Orange bottles, regular and Zero, and check the codes before the next game or outing. It takes a few minutes.
Anyone who breaks out in hives or itching after drinking one should call a doctor. For everyone else, the plain step is the same: check the bottle, set aside any that match, and ask the store or PepsiCo what to do with them.
Sources:
abcnews.com, ntd.com, nbcnewyork.com, cbsnews.com, usatoday.com, dallasnews.com
