BVO was subsequently reclassified as an "interim food additive" (pending the outcome of additional studies), with the use of BVO in food products limited to a concentration of 15 ppm:īased on data from early studies, the FDA yanked brominated vegetable oil from its Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) list for flavor additives in 1970, said Douglas Karas, a spokesman for the FDA. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) originally classified BVO as a "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS) food additive in 1958, but that classification was withdrawn in the 1970s after studies linked the consumption of brominated oil with heart disease in rats. and Canada), but not in Japan or European Union countries. The status of BVO differs in various parts of the world: It is allowed as a food additive in Latin American and North American countries (including the U.S. (We attempted to contact her for comment but received no reply.) In a March 2018 Facebook post shared by more than 200,000 users, a woman reported being told by her doctor that the BVO in Mountain Dew causes nerve damage and possibly blindness, and that her headaches and blurred vision could have been caused by drinking large amounts of the beverage:Īpart from a follow-up post saying subsequent tests showed that "something" was causing "pressure on her vision," the Facebook user reported nothing further about her condition or medical diagnosis. "After a few extreme soda binges - not too far from what many gamers regularly consume - a few patients have needed medical attention for skin lesions, memory loss and nerve disorders, all symptoms of overexposure to bromine," according to a recent article in Environmental News. ![]() That soda with the lime-green hue (and other citrus-flavored bubbly pops) won't keep your insides fireproof, but it does contain brominated vegetable oil, a patented flame retardant for plastics that has been banned in foods throughout Europe and in Japan.īrominated vegetable oil, or BVO, which acts as an emulsifier in citrus-flavored soda drinks, is found in about 10 percent of sodas sold in the U.S. The main ingredient, bromine, is a poisonous, corrosive chemical, linked to major organ system damage, birth defects, growth problems, schizophrenia, and hearing loss."There's flame retardant in your Mountain Dew. In recent years viral online pieces have described BVO as a "toxic chemical" and urged consumers to avoid products such as Mountain Dew soda that contained it:Īre you a Mountain Dew addict? Then know what you're drinking! BVO is a toxic chemical that is banned in many countries because it competes with iodine for receptor sites in the body, which can lead to hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, and cancer. BVO, which is vegetable oil bonded with atoms of the element bromine, was at one point commonly found in Mountain Dew and other popular citrus-flavored soft drinks such as Squirt, Fresca, Sunkist Peach, and Fanta Orange, and also in sports drinks such as Powerade. ![]() ![]() However, studies have not proved that the levels of BVO previously found in sodas such as Mountain Dew had adverse health effects on humans.īrominated vegetable oil, or BVO, has long been used as a food additive in the soft drink industry, primarily to help keep citrus-flavor oils suspended in beverages and prevent them from floating to the top of the fluid.
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