FDA to ban additive used in sodas due to health concerns
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The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in Maryland. Photo: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images
The Food and Drug Administration will no longer allow the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food products and sodas due to concerns it poses a threat to people's health, the FDA announced Tuesday.
The big picture: The ban follows similar action in California against the food additive that's modified with bromine, which has been used in small quantities as a stabilizer in some citrus-flavored drinks and which is also found in fire retardants.
Driving the news: Jim Jones, the deputy commissioner for the FDA's Human Foods Program, said in a statement that "removal of the only authorized use of BVO from the food supply was based on a thorough review of current science and research findings that raised safety concerns."
- The FDA "concluded that the intended use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe after the results of studies conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) found the potential for adverse health effects in humans," per an agency statement.
- A 2022 FDA study found that oral exposure to the additive "is associated with increased tissue levels of bromine and that at high levels of exposure the thyroid is a target organ of potential negative health effects in rodents."
State of play: "Over time, many beverage makers have reformulated their products to replace BVO with an alternative ingredient," per an FDA statement. "Today, few beverages in the U.S. contain BVO."
- CFRA Research's Arun Sundaram told Reuters that Sun Drop, manufactured by Keurig Dr Pepper, "is probably the biggest national brand that still uses" BVO.
Flashback: The FDA told Axios last October when California moved to outlaw BVO and three other potentially harmful food additives in a first-of-its-kind law that takes effect in 2027 that it aimed to remove authorization of the additive as a food ingredient based on new data.
What's next: The regulation is due to take effect on Aug. 2 and companies have one year from then to "reformulate, relabel, and deplete the inventory of BVO-containing products before the FDA begins enforcing the final rule," according to the agency.
What they're saying: A spokesperson for Keurig Dr Pepper told the Washington Post in October that the company planned to phase out BVO from its Sun Drop citrus-flavored soda.
- "We have been actively reformulating Sun Drop to no longer include this ingredient and will remain compliant with all state and national regulations," the spokesperson added.
