Man claims contaminants found in Gatorade drink he bought in Derby

By his estimate, Chris Blackwell had drunk about 90 percent of the Gatorade bottle when he noticed something odd.

Near the bottom of the bottle, white stringy material was floating, he said.

Gatorade says the debris may be mold, “which can happen if air gets into a bottle that wasn’t sealed properly,” the brand said on Facebook.

What actually was in the Gatorade bottle remains to be determined, though that did not stop the 26-year-old from posting on Facebook last week, warning people of the possibly contaminated Gatorade.

A photo of the bottle had been shared on Facebook more than 3,600 times as of Tuesday.

He bought the Frost Glacier Cherry Gatorade at the Kwik Shop in Derby around 10 a.m. last Wednesday, he said.

The bottle was mostly covered with a label promoting the 2016 Olympic Games, he said.

Blackwell, who said he recently had surgery on his stomach, drank the Gatorade throughout the day until he noticed the floating debris at the bottom.

He said he is thankful his 2-year-old did not drink any of the liquid; she had picked out a different flavor at the Kwik Shop that day.

“I would be way more furious,” he said in a Facebook message.

Blackwell has been in touch with Gatorade’s customer service department, he said.

On Tuesday, he said Gatorade is sending him a UPS box to send the bottle in for testing.

Gatorade did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not return calls.

Kevin Hess, a representative for Kwik Shop, said the store has been in contact with Blackwell and has given him Gatorade’s toll-free number to report consumer issues.

“We have reviewed our inventory in all Wichita-area and surrounding stores, and we have not found anything,” Hess said.

Sheila Lowrie, a spokeswoman for Dillons, the Kroger subsidiary that owns Kwik Shop, said Friday she had not heard any complaints of contaminated Gatorade bottles at Wichita-area Dillons stores.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Man claims contaminants found in Gatorade drink he bought in Derby."