It’s no secret that processed food and soft drinks contain lots of chemicals, additives, and synthetic food coloring, but did you know that many citrus sodas in North America contain flame retardant?
BVO, or brominated vegetable oil, is an additive that is found in about 10% of sodas in North America. BVO was originally patented as a flame retardant in plastics, but somewhere along the way it ended up in the food chain.
BVO is added to soft drinks to keep the artificial flavors in sodas from floating to the top. You can find BVO in citrus drinks such as Fanta Orange, Mountain Dew, and Sunkist Pineapple. Pepsi announced in January 2013 that it would stop using BVO in Gatorade after a petition at Change.org collected over 200,00 signatures, but they continue to use it in Mountain Dew.
But they tested it for safety – right?
In the 70’s, the FDA set a “safe limit” of 15 parts per million for the amount of BVO that was supposed to be safe. But the original studies to determine the safety of BVO were conducted by the industry, and they used methods that today are regarded as not reliable.
Research has demonstrated that BVO accumulates in the fatty tissue and can result in nerve damage, reduced fertility, and thyroid problems. There have been a number of cases where people who consumed large amounts of drinks containing BVO developed skin lesions, nerve disorders, and memory loss.
In the 70’s, a study was done that compared the levels of bromine in the tissue of people from the U.K., where BVO was permitted, to the levels in people in Germany, where BVO was banned. The bromine levels in the U.K were much higher than in Germany, especially in young children.
BVO has already been banned in Europe and Japan due to health concerns. But it is still used in North America. Soft drink manufacturers in Europe use other ingredients that are considered to be safer to keep flavors mixed. So there are other options for soft drink manufacturers, but they choose not to use the safer alternatives.
Just say no!
Soft drinks are obviously not a healthy drink, but the reality is that they are extremely popular. If a lot of people are going to drink them, the soft drink manufacturers should at least keep harmful chemicals out of the drinks.
Are you concerned about the safety of BVO in sodas? If you are, you can sign one of the petitions at Change.org.