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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently announced that it will no longer allow the harmful additive in food and packaged beverages. CNN reported that the FDA released a statement explaining that brominated vegetable oil (BVO) (a type of vegetable oil) is used in the form of a food additive to help prevent citrus flavorings in beverages from floating to the surface. The FDA also announced that the decision will take effect on August 2, 2024. However, packaged food companies will have “one year from that date to reformulate their products, relabel them, and use up their BVO inventory,” the FDA statement read.
What are brominated vegetable oils and how do they affect human health?
Brominated vegetable oil (also known as BVO) is vegetable oil that has been modified with bromine. It is typically used in beverages such as carbonated drinks, energy drinks, and packaged juices to suspend citrus flavorings and prevent them from separating during transport and storage.
A 1969 study by the Canadian Food and Drug Administration claimed that bromine was toxic to humans, leading the FDA to remove BVO from its list of products generally regarded as safe. Until now, BVO use has been limited to products containing fruit flavorings only. A report published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest explains that the additive is known to leave bromine triglyceride residues in body fat, often causing damage to the liver, heart, and brain. Common effects of bromine toxicity include central nervous system damage, headaches, nausea, memory loss, and impaired coordination.
The report also states that the use of brominated vegetable oils was banned in the UK in the early 1970s, followed by India in 1990, the European Union in 2008 and Japan in 2010.
Read also: This common food additive may cause weight gain and diabetes: study
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Why did the FDA ban brominated vegetable oils from foods and beverages?
According to The Hill, the FDA claims that several beverage companies have already tweaked their recipes and replaced BVO with other ingredients, but there are still a few companies in the US that use the additive in their drinks.
“The removal of the only approved use of BVO from the food supply follows a thorough review of the latest science and studies that have raised safety concerns,” Jim Jones, deputy commissioner for the FDA’s human food program, said, according to The Hill.
Jones also said the committee plans to take tough action against companies that continue to use BVO in the absence of scientific evidence.
