The world’s largest beverage-maker, Coca-Cola, plans to
remove a controversial ingredient from some of its drinks brands by the
end
of this year, following an online petition.
Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is found in Coca-Cola fruit and sports drinks such as Fanta and Powerade.
An element of the additive, also found in flame retardants, could have negative health effects, activists say.
Rival Pepsi removed the chemical from its Gatorade sports drink last year.
A
Pepsi spokesman said it also had wider plans to stop using BVO and had
“been actively working to remove it from the rest of our product
portfolio”.
Pepsi uses the ingredient in its Mountain Dew and Amp Energy drinks sold in the US.
Coca-Cola spokesman Josh Gold stressed the move to remove BVO was not an issue of safety.
“All
of our beverages, including those with BVO, are safe and always have
been – and comply with all regulations in the countries where they are
sold,” he said in a statement.
“The safety and quality of our products is our highest priority.”
BVO has been used as a stabiliser in fruit-flavoured drinks as it helps to prevent ingredients from separating.
The health concerns stem from the fact BVO contains bromide, which is found in brominated flame retardants.
According
to medical researchers at the Mayo Clinic, excessive consumption of
soft drinks containing BVO has been linked to negative health effects,
including reports of memory loss and skin and nerve problems.
BVO was dropped from the US Food and Drug Administration’s “Generally Recognized as Safe” list of food ingredients in 1970.
However, drinks companies are allowed to use BVO at up to 15 parts per million.
In Japan and the European Union, the use of BVO as a food additive is not allowed.
Coca-Cola
said it would switch to using sucrose acetate isobutyrate or glycerol
ester of rosin, which is commonly found in chewing gum.
The
Atlanta-based company said two flavours of its Powerade sports drink –
fruit punch and strawberry lemonade – have already replaced BVO with
glycerol ester of rosin.
Coca-Cola’s decision to remove
BVO from its drink reflects a growing move among companies to
reconsider certain practices due to public pressure.
The
campaign against the use of BVO was begun by Sarah Kavanagh, a teenager
from Mississippi, who questioned why the ingredient was being used in
drinks targeted at health-conscious athletes.
Thousands of people have since signed her online petition on Change.org to have BVO removed from drinks.
Following
Monday’s announcement by Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Ms Kavanagh was quoted as
saying: “It’s really good to know that companies, especially big
companies, are listening to consumers.”
Source: PM News
It our hope that this company will surely remove it, we don't no the number of people that must have lost their life as a result of this.
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