Certain fruit-flavored beverages include vegetable oil that has been brominated, which may be hazardous to people.
The Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday that, as of August 2, it would no longer be safe to utilize the rule that permitted the use of brominated vegetable oil in food products.
The chemical component BVO, which is present in fire retardants, contains bromine. To maintain an equitable distribution of taste, some citrus-flavored beverages in the US are permitted to include small amounts of BVO.
After conducting tests in conjunction with the National Institutes of Health, the FDA said that it had come to the conclusion that BVO was not safe for use due to the possibility of negative consequences in people.
In November 2023, the EPA had first suggested repealing the rule. BVO was outlawed in the UK in 1970; India followed suit in 1990; the EU did the same in 2008; and Japan did so in 2010, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
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Due to toxicity concerns, the FDA determined in 1970 that its use in food was not widely recognized as safe. Following this, the organization started to regulate BVO as a food additive and carried out safety investigations concurrently.
“The FDA’s new rule prohibiting BVO as a food additive is a huge step in the right direction,” Running Point Capital Advisors Chief Investment Officer Michael Ashley Schulman said.
According to FDA regulations, a corporation had to declare an ingredient on the label if it was used in any product.
The FDA claims that several beverage manufacturers have switched out BVO for other ingredients over time. It said, “Today, few beverages in the U.S. contain BVO.”
BVO has been eliminated from PepsiCo and Coca-Cola beverages, including Gatorade and Fanta, respectively.
According to Arun Sundaram of CFRA Research, “Sun Drop, made by Keurig Dr. Pepper, still uses BVO… This is probably the biggest national brand that still uses it.”
A Reuters request for comment was not immediately answered by Keurig Dr. Pepper.
SOURCE : NBC NEWS
