The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is banning the use of a food additive known as brominated vegetable oil after concluding it is no longer safe to consume.
Brominated vegetable oil is a stabilizer used in citrus-flavored beverages and was previously allowed by the FDA to be used in small amounts of 15 parts per million or less. However, few products in the United States still use brominated vegetable oil, according to the FDA.
Last November, the FDA first proposed banning BVO. The news came shortly after California banned BVO and three other food additives in October 2023.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an independent food and health watchdog organization, BVO was also banned in the United Kingdom in 1970 and then in the European Union in 2008. India and Japan have also banned the ingredient.
What is brominated vegetable oil?
Brominated vegetable oil, also known as BVO, is an oil that has been modified with bromine, a naturally occurring chemical element, according to the FDA. It is used as a food stabilizer primarily in citrus beverages to prevent the flavor from separating and floating to the surface.
BVO was on the FDA’s list of ingredients generally regarded as safe, but its use was restricted to products containing food flavorings after multiple toxicity studies by Canada’s Food and Drug Directorate in 1969, according to CSPI.
On July 3, the FDA revoked the regulation allowing the use of BVO in food products.
Why is brominated vegetable oil banned?
The FDA announced it had banned brominated vegetable oil after “results from studies conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) revealed a potential for adverse effects on human health.”
Specifically, it was animal studies that found BVO had “toxic effects on the thyroid gland,” Thomas Galligan, Ph.D., senior scientist for dietary additives and supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, tells TODAY.com.
A study published in 2022 — which Michael Hansen, Ph.D., senior food scientist at Consumer Reports, describes as “infallible” — found that BVO can interfere with thyroid function, which can lead to hypothyroidism (when the gland produces too little thyroid hormone), weight gain, and depression.
The BVO ban will go into effect in the United States on August 2, 2024. After that date, companies will have one year to reformulate, relabel, and stop selling products containing BVO.
Which sodas contain BVO?
“Most major (soda) brands have already eliminated BVO from their formulas,” Galligan says.
That said, there are some beverages on the market that contain BVO, such as Sun Drop, made by Keurig Dr Pepper.
“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 TODAY.com in an emailed statement.
TODAY.com also identified a soda available for purchase at Walmart that contains BVO, Great Value Orangette orange soda.
“We are aware of the FDA’s recent decision regarding the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in foods. Walmart has been working with private label suppliers to reformulate products. Currently, there are very few Walmart private label items that still contain BVO, and we expect these to be reformulated prior to the FDA compliance date,” a Walmart spokesperson told TODAY.com via email. (Great Value is a Walmart brand.)
TODAY.com also identified store-brand orange sodas containing brominated vegetable oil for sale at Giant.
In an emailed statement to TODAY, a Giant spokesperson said in part: “We are aware of the FDA rule regarding BVO in products and are committed to following FDA guidance to reformulate our products that currently contain this ingredient. … Prior to the rule going into effect, Giant Foods had already initiated efforts to reformulate our products to remove BVO while ensuring we maintain the quality standards our customers expect. … We will continue to work diligently to comply with FDA regulations regarding BVO, ensuring our products meet the highest safety and quality standards.”
Grocery chain HEB also sells private-label orange sodas containing BVO, TODAY.com discovered. The grocery chain did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tips to Know if a Soda is Made with BVO
To determine if a soda contains brominated vegetable oil, Galligan suggests starting by looking at the ingredient list, which should indicate whether the drink contains brominated vegetable oil. It will say “brominated vegetable oil” or “brominated oil” and a specific type of oil, such as soybean oil.
Here are some other things to consider when avoiding sodas containing BVO, according to Galligan:
- It is most commonly found in citrus-flavored drinks.
- If the drink appears cloudy throughout the bottle, it may contain BVO.
- Generic, off-brand sodas are more likely to contain BVO than name brands.
- If you drink fountain soda at a restaurant, they usually carry name brands, so the risk of it containing BVO is lower, but ask a restaurant employee what the brand is and what the ingredients are if you are concerned.
Do other drinks besides soda contain BVO?
Galligan explains that BVO is typically found in carbonated beverages, but non-carbonated beverages can also contain it, Hansen says. Both experts recommend checking the label before purchasing citrus-flavored drinks.
“If it’s a citrus-flavored drink that’s also a little cloudy and isn’t branded, those are clues that you might want to turn that bottle around and take a look at the ingredient list,” Galligan says.
This is not a problem with 100% fruit juice, he adds.
Do Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew contain BVO?
No, Coca-Cola does not contain brominated vegetable oil, according to Coca-Cola.com.
And no, Mountain Dew does not contain BVO in its ingredient list, according to its manufacturer, PepsiCo.
In fact, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola no longer use BVO in any of their products, NBC News reported. Gatorade also no longer contains BVO, Hansen said.
