FDA bans BVO, an additive found in some sodas, sports drinks

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Wednesday it is revoking the regulation authorizing the use of brominated vegetable oil in food, effective Aug. 2.

The ingredient was previously authorized by the agency for use in small amounts to “keep the citrus flavor from separating and floating to the top of some beverages,” according to the agency, but the FDA determined in 1970 the ingredient was no longer “Generally Recognized As Safe” − an official designation of the FDA − and began overseeing its use under its food additive regulations.

In the advisory Wednesday, the FDA said it concluded that the “intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe” after the results of studies conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health found the potential for “adverse effects in humans.”

“The removal of the only authorized use of BVO from the food supply was based on a thorough review of current science and research findings that raised safety concerns,” said Jim Jones, Deputy Commissioner for Human Foods, in the news release.

“We will continue to monitor emerging evidence on the chemicals we have targeted for reassessment, and in cases such as this, where the science no longer supports continued authorized use, we will take action to protect public health,” Jones added.

California banned the ingredient last October when it passed the California Food Safety Act, while BVO is already banned in Europe and Japan.

Which soft drinks contain BVO and which are BVO-free? Here’s what to know.

Which sodas have BVO in them?

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows over 600 branded products that may still contain BVO. However, the agency’s “Global Branded Food Products Database” relies on companies to voluntarily submit their own nutrition information, prompting skepticism about the accuracy of the listings, as noted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a food and health watchdog.

USDA’s database shows many grocery store soda brands and regional beverages that may also contain BVO.

“Sun Drop, manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, still uses BVO … This is probably the biggest national brand that still uses it,” CFRA Research’s Arun Sundaram told Reuters Tuesday.

“We are actively reformulating Sun Drop to no longer include this ingredient and will remain compliant with all state and federal regulations,” a KDP spokesperson told USA TODAY in an emailed statement Wednesday.

To see if a product contains BVO, you can check its ingredient list.

Drinks that contain BVO will say “brominated vegetable oil” or “brominated” and a specific type of oil, such as soybean, on the ingredient list, Thomas Galligan, Ph.D., principal scientist for food additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, told Today.

Galligan offered a few other tips in spotting BVO, as reported by Today:

It’s most common in citrus-flavored drinks.
If the drink looks cloudy throughout the bottle, it may contain BVO.
Generic, off-brand sodas are more likely to have BVO than name brands.
If you’re drinking fountain soda in a restaurant, they usually carry name brands, so the risk of it having BVO is lower, but ask a restaurant worker about the brand and ingredients if you’re concerned.

Which sodas don’t have BVO in them?

The FDA says many beverage makers have reformulated their products to replace BVO with an alternative ingredient.

PepsiCo agreed in 2013 to remove BVO from Gatorade, and in 2014 both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo announced they would remove the ingredient from all their beverages.

While the ingredient remained in Mountain Dew for a few years after 2014, USA TODAY confirmed in a 2020 fact check that PepsiCo no longer uses the ingredient in the drink.

What is BVO?

According to the FDA, BVO is a vegetable oil that is modified with bromine. It was used in small amounts, not to exceed 15 parts per million, as a “stabilizer for fruit flavoring in beverages” to keep the citrus flavoring from floating to the top.

In May 2022, the FDA published a study that evaluated potential health effects related to BVO consumption in rodents. In the study, the agency measured the amounts of BVO present in the animal food and brominated fats in tissues from test animals. The agency said it fed test animals amounts of BVO that “simulate real-life exposure.”

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FDA bans BVO, an additive found in some sodas, sports drinks

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