Is Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in all citrus soft drinks?
By sedel1027
@sedel1027 (17846)
Cupertino, California
June 11, 2008 9:13am CST
Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) has been banned in food by quite a few countries (heck even India banned this stuff!) because the bromine (which is a posion) can remain in the human fat cells. Here in the US, some citrus flavored soft drinks - Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Powerade, Mello Yello, Pineapple and Orange Fanta, Sun Drop, Squirt and Fresca - BVO to give the drink a cloudy appearance.
It seems like citrus beverages like Sprite & 7up are safe, but I don't have a can of either on hand to check it out. We don't keep soda in the house but allow my son to get soda if we go out to eat and he normally chooses Sprite or Seirra Mist. I would rather him - or anyone else - in my house drink anything with BVO since no one really knows what can happen.
More information on Brominated vegetable oil can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brominated_vegetable_oil
1 person likes this
3 responses
@sedel1027 (17846)
• Cupertino, California
11 Jun 08
That is because you are drinking the knock off brand, which IS NOT the same as Mountain Dew (the ingredients are very different and it has much less caffeine). Pepsi - who makes Mt Dew - has BVO listed as an ingredient they use in their products.
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 08
From what I've been reading about BVO, not all drinks have BVO listed on their labels...if any drink has a murky, cloudy look to it, it is a sure bet BVO had been added
@ShealM (388)
• Canada
11 Jun 08
The most common brand for BVO is fanta. BVO can actually cause a carcinogenic reaction with the stomach acids and even cause stomach problems for some people. It should be banned as a food additive, it's dangerous and can cause some severe reactions in some people from anaphalectic shock to ulcers and even in the long run cancers and heart attacks.
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
16 Jun 08
I have you to thank for giving me the inspiration to write a whole article myself about this..in fact just rattled it out today and submitted it to AC.....I thank my lucky stars that number one, I've never been a fan of sodas to begin with, but especially not Mountain Dew...tasted like crude to me...also drank Gatorade only one and vowed never to drink it again...what I can't understand is like what the heck is with the FDA? Over 100 countries have banned BVO in drinks yet we still have it...I read the "lovely" list of side effects BVO can cause...ekkkkkkk!
