The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), is a chemical containing bromine, which is found in fire retardants. Small quantities of BVO are used legally in some citrus-flavored drinks in the United States to keep the flavour evenly distributed.
Coca-Cola said the ingredient was dropped from two flavours of its Powerade drink – fruit punch and strawberry lemonade – earlier this year. The company expects to remove it from its Fanta and Fresca sods, and as well as citrus-flavoured fountain drinks, by year’s end for US consumers.
The company said it will also remove the ingredient in its products sold globally but so far has not provided a timeline.
Coca-Cola, which has said its use of BVO was safe for consumers, will use as a replacement sucrose acetate isobutyrate, which it has used for over a decade in some drinks, or glycerol ester of rosin, a ingredient commonly found in chewing gums and drinks, the company said.
BVO had been the target of petitions on Change.org by a Mississippi teenager who wanted it out of PepsiCo’s Gatorade and Coca-Cola’s Powerade. In her petitions, Sarah Kavanagh noted that the ingredient has been patented as a flame retardant and isn’t approved for use in Japan and the European Union.
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have stood by the safety of the ingredient. But their decisions reflect the pressure companies are facing as people pay closer attention to ingredient labels and try to stick to diets they feel are natural. Several major food makers have recently changed their recipes to remove chemicals or dyes that people find objectionable.
While food companies stress that the ingredients meet regulatory requirements, their decisions reflect how marketing a product as ‘natural’ has become priority and a competitive advantage.
Source: BBC/USA Today
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