WEB PAGE NO. 2806 31st July 2021 Lucozade 1ST PICTURE: Original Poster

2nd PICTURE: Model Lucozade Lorry

3RD PICTURE Original bottle in yellow cellophane

4TH PICTURE Lucozade Factory

Lucozade When we were ill as kids we knew it was serious if mother produced a bottle of Lucozade! The soft drink manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. It was actually created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter who was trading unfder the name of W. Owen & Son. Success followed and in 1938 it was acquired by Beecham's who then sold it as Lucozade, an energy drink for the sick. The company's advertising slogan was "Lucozade aids recovery". It was sold mostly in pharmacies up until the middle of 1990s before it became more readily available as a sports drink in shops across the UK. In 1953, a factory for the production of Lucozade products was opened in Brentford, which, until 2004, had an iconic sign seen on the side of the M4 motorway (now in Gunnersbury Park Museum) This glucose and water solution, was sold until 1983 as a carbonated, slightly orange-flavoured drink in a glass bottle and as we all remember it was wrapped in yellow cellophane. Pharmacists sold it, children were given it when ill, and hospital visitors would regularly arrive on the ward with a bottle and a bunch of grapes The drink was rebranded in 1978 as a "pick me up", and as a sports drink in 1983, to associate it with health rather than sickness. The company switched to a plastic bottle and introduced a range of flavours. As of 2016, a 500 ml bottle contained 62 g (15.5 cubes) of sugar, more than Coca-Cola. In 2017, to avoid sugar tax, the drink was reformulated to contain 22.5 g of sugar per 500 ml of liquid, plus the artificial sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame. In 1989, the Beecham Group merged to form SmithKline Beecham, which further merged in 2000 to form GlaxoSmithKline. In September 2013, GlaxoSmithKline sold Lucozade and another soft drink, Ribena, to the Japanese drinks conglomerate Suntory for £1.35 billion. At the time of the sale, the product was manufactured in England at the Royal Forest Factory in Coleford, Gloucestershire, in the Forest of Dean. Lucozade contains 0.01% ethanol (alcohol), which meant that the observant Muslims could not drink it. However, in 2004, the Muslim Council of Britain ruled that they saw no harm in consuming Lucozade which contains traces of ethyl alcohol that do not bear its original qualities and do not change the taste, colour or smell. GlaxoSmithKline pointed out that fruit juices and bread could also contain the same or higher trace amounts of alcohol due to natural fermentation. The various flavours of Lucozade drinks are marketed as soft drinks; a soft drinks industry spokesman said in response: "By helping people participating in sport to perform better and to recover more quickly, sports drinks can encourage people to exercise more". In May 2016, Liverpool City Council ran a "name-and-shame campaign" entitled “Is your child’s sweet tooth harming their health?”. The short-lived campaign claimed that Lucozade was "the worst offender", containing 62 grams of sugar in a 500 ml bottle, followed by Coca-Cola with 54 grams. Posters for the campaign were displayed in hospitals for a time. In its original high-sugar formulation, Lucozade was recommended by UK diabetes charities as an immediate treatment for hypoglycaemia in individuals who take insulin. Since the drink now includes artificial sweeteners, guidelines have been amended to state that Lucozade should not be used to treat this condition. Lucozade Sport is still a major sponsor of sporting events, teams and athletes in the UK and Ireland, including the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), FA Premier League, FA Cup, England Rugby Football Union, England Football Team, the Republic Of Ireland Football Team, the London Marathon, Parkrun, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, Damien Duff, Ronan O'Gara and Ben Wynne. Since 2012, the McLaren Formula One team has also been sponsored by Lucozade. Stay in touch Peter gsseditor@gmail.com