NEW YORK (AP) — PepsiCo Inc. is removing a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade sports drink in response to customer complaints.

Molly Carter, a spokeswoman for the company, said Friday that the removal of brominated vegetable oil was in the works over the past year after the company began “hearing rumblings” from consumers about the ingredient. She said it wasn’t a reaction to a recent petition on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager.