PepsiCo announced this week it will remove brominated vegetable oil, a flame retardant, from its
Gatorade drinks in response to customer concerns.
BVO
keeps flavor oils in suspension, giving a cloudy appearance to citrus-flavored
soft drinks such as Mountain Dew, Fanta Orange, and Gatorade. Safety questions
have been hanging over BVO since 1970, when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
removed BVO from its "Generally Recognized as Safe" list of food
ingredients, according to the Center for
Science in the Public Interest. In 1970, the FDA permitted its use only an
"interim" basis pending additional study – one of only four
interim-allowed additives.
Health
concerns start with the finding that eating BVO leaves residues in body fat and
the fat in brain, liver, and other organs, according to a report on BVO on the
center’s website. The report also states:
Animal
studies indicate that BVO is transferred from mother's milk to the nursing
infant and also can cause heart lesions, fatty changes in the liver, and
impaired growth and behavioral development. Those studies suggest that BVO
might be harmful to people who drink large amounts of soft drinks that contain
BVO. And, doctors have identified bromine toxicity in two people who drank
extremely large amounts of such sodas. Sensitive, modern studies are urgently needed
to better understand the risk, especially at the lower levels typically
consumed by large numbers of children.
Michael F. Jacobson, executive director
for the center, said in a statement:
Brominated vegetable
oil is a poorly tested and possibly dangerous food additive, and there's no
reason to use it in Gatorade or other drinks. After all, safe substitutes are
used in Europe and elsewhere. It's crazy that the Food and Drug Administration
has let BVO linger in the food supply on an "interim" basis for 42
years…I applaud PepsiCo for doing the responsible
thing and voluntarily getting it out of Gatorade without waiting for government
officials to require it to do so. That said, Gatorade without BVO is
nutritionally no better than with it. A typical 20-ounce bottle has 130
calories, all from its 34 grams of refined sugars, which promote obesity,
diabetes, and heart disease.
