Lucozade facts for kids
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Lucozade Caribbean Crush
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| Type | Soft drink |
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| Manufacturer | Suntory |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Region of origin | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Introduced | 1927 |
Lucozade is a well-known brand of drinks from the UK. It makes both soft drinks and energy drinks. A Japanese company called Suntory now owns and sells Lucozade.
The drink was first made in 1927 in Newcastle upon Tyne by a pharmacist named William Walker Hunter. It was first called "Glucozade." In 1938, a company called Beecham's bought it. They changed the name to Lucozade. For many years, it was sold as an energy drink mainly for people who were sick. Its old slogan was "Lucozade aids recovery."
Until the 1980s, you mostly found Lucozade in pharmacies. Children often drank it when they were unwell. It came in a glass bottle wrapped in bright yellow cellophane. In 1983, Lucozade changed its image. It became a sports drink and was sold in many more shops. The company also started using plastic bottles and added new flavours.
In 2017, Lucozade changed its recipe to have less sugar. This was because of a new "sugar tax" in the UK. It now uses artificial sweeteners like sucralose.
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History of Lucozade
Lucozade started as "Glucozade" in 1927. It was created by William Walker Hunter in Newcastle, England. He sold his product to the Beecham Group in 1938. They later changed its name to Lucozade.
For many years, Lucozade was known as a drink for sick people. It was a fizzy, slightly orange-flavoured drink. It came in a glass bottle with a yellow wrapper. In 1983, the company decided to change this image. They wanted Lucozade to be seen as an energy drink for everyone.
The old slogan "Lucozade aids recovery" was changed. The new slogan became "Lucozade replaces lost energy." The glass bottles were replaced with plastic ones. After this change, sales in the UK grew very quickly. They tripled between 1984 and 1989.
Over the years, the company that owned Lucozade changed. In 2013, GlaxoSmithKline sold Lucozade and another drink called Ribena. The Japanese company Suntory bought them for a lot of money.
Lucozade Commercials
After Lucozade became a sports drink, many famous athletes helped promote it. They appeared in TV commercials.
Some of these sports stars included:
- Daley Thompson, an Olympic champion, in 1983.
- Olympic sprint champion Linford Christie.
- Footballers John Barnes and Alan Shearer.
- Rugby player Jonny Wilkinson.
- Even the video game character Lara Croft from Tomb Raider appeared in ads.
Purpose and Effectiveness of Lucozade
Sports drinks like Lucozade are made to give you energy from sugars. They are supposed to help you perform better and last longer during exercise.
Some studies have looked into how well sports drinks work. Researchers found that many claims about improving performance had little proof. The studies that did show better endurance were often done on top athletes. This means the results might not apply to most people.
One expert said that for most people, drinking these products might even cancel out the benefits of exercising. This is because of the extra calories from the sugars.
Lucozade is available as a liquid in bottles or cans. It also comes in tablet form. The tablets are available in orange or the original flavour.
In 2016, a city council in the UK warned about the sugar in drinks. They said a 500 ml bottle of Lucozade had 62 grams of sugar. This was more than a similar amount of Coca-Cola.
Before 2017, Lucozade was recommended for people with diabetes to treat low blood sugar. But since the recipe changed to include artificial sweeteners, it is no longer recommended for this purpose.
What's in Lucozade?
The ingredients in Lucozade drinks can be a bit different for each flavour. For example, Lucozade Original Energy used to contain:
- carbonated water
- glucose syrup (a type of sugar)
- citric acid (for flavour)
- lactic acid
- flavouring
- preservatives (like potassium sorbate)
- caffeine
- antioxidant (like ascorbic acid)
- colours (like sunset yellow)
After 2017, the recipe changed to lower the sugar. Now, Lucozade Original also contains sweeteners like sucralose and acesulfame K.
The packaging of some Lucozade drinks has a warning. It says that some of the colours used might affect children's activity and attention.
A 380 ml bottle of Lucozade has about 46 mg of caffeine. This is similar to the amount in a cup of tea.
Lucozade contains a very tiny amount of ethanol (alcohol), about 0.01%. This small amount is often found naturally in things like fruit juices and bread due to natural fermentation. In 2004, the Muslim Council of Britain said that this small trace of alcohol does not make the drink forbidden for observant Muslims.
Lucozade Types
Lucozade comes in many different types and flavours. Here are some of them:
Lucozade Energy
- Original
- Orange
- Wild Cherry
- Wild Berry
- Pink Lemonade
- Apple Blast
- Lemon
- Cloudy Lemon
- Tropical
- Mixed Berry
- Strawberry
- Raspberry Ripple
- Watermelon & Strawberry
- Melonade
- Caribbean Crush
- Brazilian Mango & Mandarin
- Citrus Chill
- Citrus Clear
- Grafruitti
- Pineapple Punch
- Tropical Fusion
- Black Edition Cola
- Blackcurrant
- Blue Burst
Lucozade Zero (These have no sugar)
- Original
- Orange
- Pink Lemonade
- Tropical
Lucozade Sport (These are for sports)
- Orange
- Caribbean Burst
- Brazilian Guava
- Raspberry
- Cherry
- Mango & Passion Fruit
- Fruit Punch (AJ Edition)
- Low Cal - Orange
- Low Cal - Lemon & Lime
- Blue Force
Lucozade Alert (These are stronger energy drinks)
- Original
- Tropical Burst
- Cherry Blast
- Blue Rush
Lucozade Sponsorships
Lucozade Sport often sponsors big sports events, teams, and athletes in the UK and Ireland. This helps them promote their drinks.
Some of their sponsorships include:
- The FA Premier League (a top football league)
- The FA Cup (a famous football competition)
- The England national football team
- The Republic of Ireland national football team
- The London Marathon (a big running race)
- Famous athletes like Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Damien Duff, and Ronan O'Gara.
Lucozade also sponsored the McLaren Formula One racing team for a while. They have also sponsored Jamaican sprinter Asafa Powell since 2005.
Lucozade Collaborations
In 2017, Lucozade Zero worked with a British fashion company called Missguided. They had a special campaign where people could get discounts on Missguided clothes. This happened by finding codes on Lucozade Zero cans. Booths were set up in busy areas to promote this offer.
