Brominated vegetable oil

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Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is vegetable oil that has had atoms of the element bromine bonded to it. Brominated vegetable oil is used to stabilize citrus-flavored soft drinks. Its high density helps the droplets of natural fat-soluble citrus flavors stay suspended in the drink. BVO has been used by the soft drink industry since 1931, generally at a level of about 8 ppm.[1][2]

Careful control of the type of oil used allows bromination of it to produce BVO with a specific density (1.33 g/mL). As a result, it can be mixed with less-dense flavoring agents such as citrus flavor oil to produce a resulting oil whose density matches that of water or other products. The droplets containing BVO remain suspended in the water rather than separating and floating at the surface.[2]

Alternative food additives used for the same purpose include sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB, E444) and glycerol ester of wood rosin (ester gum, E445).

Regulation and use

North America

In the United States, BVO was designated in 1958 as generally recognized as safe (GRAS),[2] but this was withdrawn by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1970.[3] The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations currently imposes restrictions on the use of BVO as a food additive in the United States, limiting the concentration to 15 ppm,[4] limiting the amount of free fatty acids to 2.5 percent, and limiting the iodine value to 16.[5] BVO is used in Gatorade and Mountain Dew manufactured by PepsiCo; Powerade, Fanta Orange and Fresca made by Coca-Cola; and Squirt, Sun Drop and Sunkist Peach Soda, made by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group.[6]

BVO is one of four substances that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has defined as interim food additives;[7] the other three are acrylonitrile copolymers, mannitol, and saccharin.[8]

BVO is currently permitted as a food additive in Canada.[9]

Europe

In the European Union, BVO is not on the current EU-approved additives list.[10] In the EU, beverage companies commonly use glycerol ester of wood rosin or locust bean gum as an alternative to BVO.

India

Standards for soft drinks in India have prohibited the use of BVO since 1990.[11][12]

Japan

The use of BVO as a food additive has been banned in Japan since 2010.[2]

Health effects

The United States Food and Drug Administration considers BVO to be safe for use as a food additive.[5] However, there are case reports of adverse effects associated with excessive consumption of BVO-containing products. One case reported that a man who consumed two to four liters of a soda containing BVO on a daily basis experienced memory loss, tremors, fatigue, loss of muscle coordination, headache, and ptosis of the right eyelid, as well as elevated serum chloride.[13] In the two months it took to correctly diagnose the problem, the patient also lost the ability to walk. Eventually, bromism was diagnosed and hemodialysis was prescribed which resulted in a reversal of the disorder.[14]

Online petition

An online petition at Change.org asking PepsiCo to stop adding BVO to Gatorade and other products collected over 200,000 signatures by January 2013.[6] The petition pointed out that since Gatorade is sold in countries where BVO is not approved, there is already an existing formulation without this ingredient. PepsiCo announced in January 2013 that it would no longer use BVO in Gatorade,[15][16] but had no plans to remove it from Mountain Dew.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Pepsi Product Information: Ingredient Glossary". PepsiCo. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Paul Bendig, Lisa Maier, Walter Vetter (2012). "Brominated vegetable oil in soft drinks – an underrated source of human organobromine intake". Food Chemistry 133 (3): 678–682. doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.01.058. 
  3. ↑ Food additives. Brominated vegetable oils; removal from list of substances generally recognized as safe. Federal Register (1970), 35(18), 1049
  4. ↑ D.L. Turner (1972). "Determination of brominated vegetable oil concentrations in soft drinks using a specific ion electrode". Journal of Food Science 37 (5): 791–792. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21—Food and Drugs, Chapter I—Food and Drug Administration, Department of Heath and Human Services, Subchapter B—Food for Human Consumption, Part 180—Food Additives Permitted in Food or in Contact with Food on an Interum Basis Pending Additional Study". Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Strom, Stephanie. "Another look at a drink ingredient, Brominated Vegetable OIl". New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2012. 
  7. ↑ "Food Additive Status List". Food and Drug Administration. 
  8. ↑ Enhancing the Regulatory Decision-Making Approval Process for Direct Food Ingredient Technologies. Institute of Medicine. 1999. p. 31. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  9. ↑ "Food additives permitted for use in Canada". Health Canada. Retrieved October 19, 2012. 
  10. ↑ "Food Standards Agency - Current EU approved additives and their E Numbers". Retrieved 25 March 2011. 
  11. ↑ "Campaign on BVO". CUTS International. 
  12. ↑ "DIRECTORS' REPORT 1990-91". Ministry of Food Processing Industries. 
  13. ↑ Horowitz BZ (1997). "Bromism from excessive cola consumption". Journal of Toxicology: Clinical Toxicology 35 (3): 315–320. doi:10.3109/15563659709001219. PMID 9140329. 
  14. ↑ Matthew Alice (1999-07-29). "Straight from the Hip: What is Brominated Vegetable Oil?". San Diego Reader. Retrieved 2007-09-17. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stephanie Strom (January 25, 2013). "PepsiCo Will Halt Use of Additive in Gatorade" (blog by NYT journalist). The New York Times. Retrieved January 26, 2013. 
  16. ↑ "Gatorade to remove controversial ingredient". AP. Retrieved 2013-01-26. 

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