FDA bans food additive found in citrusy sports drinks and sodas (brominated vegetable oil, Jul 2024) Article

[Michael Harrop]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-bans-food-additive-found-citrusy-sports-drinks-sodas-rcna160045

The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it would revoke the regulation that authorized the use of brominated vegetable oil in food items, effective Aug. 2, as it was no longer safe.

BVO is a chemical ingredient containing bromine, which is found in fire retardants. Small quantities of BVO are used legally in some citrus-flavored drinks in the United States to keep the flavor evenly distributed.

The FDA said it had concluded that BVO was not safe for use after the results of studies, it conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health, found the potential for adverse effects in humans.

According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, BVO was banned in the UK in 1970, followed by India in 1990, the EU in 2008 and Japan in 2010.

Sun Drop, manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, still uses BVO ... This is probably the biggest national brand that still uses it

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[Michael Harrop]

What the FDA's ban of BVO — a soda additive and flame retardant — says about food safety in America (Jul 2024) https://www.salon.com/2024/07/17/bvo-fda-ban-soda/

"It's disgraceful that it took decades of regulatory inaction to protect consumers from this dangerous chemical"

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Many American beverage manufacturers had already phased out using BVO in their product formulations, in part because it’s a chemical that’s banned in many other parts of the world. However, according to Scott Faber, senior vice president of governmental affairs at the Environmental Working group, it is still used “especially in so-called off-brand products, including store-brand products and lesser-known, smaller brands that are sometimes sold regionally.”

Notably, PepsiCo announced in 2022 that they had removed BVO from Mountain Dew.

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