7-UP Used to Include Psychiatric Medication?

The lemon-lime flavored soda 7-UP was created by Charles Grigg of the Howdy Corporation in 1929 and first launched two weeks before the 1929 stock market crash. It was originally named “Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda” and included lithium citrate in its formula. Lithium citrate is a mood-stabilizing drug that was popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and it is still used today for people with bipolar disorder, among others. Obviously, such a lengthy name wasn’t ideal on the consumer side of things, so the beverage’s name was quickly shortened to “7-UP Lithiated Lemon Soda”, then chopped to just “7-UP” in 1936. The lithium citrate, surprisingly, stuck around in the drink all the way until 1950 when new research showed it had potentially dangerous side effects.