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Dissecting The Ingredient That Has Been Banned In More Than 100 Countries

Ingredient Investigator Extraordinaire: Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO)

Featured_Image-Lifelong-Fitness-Bromated-Vegetable-Oil
Featured_Image-Lifelong-Fitness-Bromated-Vegetable-Oil

What if I were to tell you that I was going give you a Gatorade after your next run?  The only catch is that I would first spike it with an ingredient that has not only been banned in over 100 countries, but has also been reported as toxic? Chances are good that you would run for the hills and report me to the authorities.  Ironically, there is such a compound in your Mountain Dew, not to mention your PowerAde, Fanta Orange, Fresca, Squirt, Sun Drop, and Sunkist Peach!  This little chemical is called Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO).

Uses

Used by the soft drink industry since 1931, BVO has primarily been used to stabilize citrus-flavored soft drinks. Specifically, it helps natural fat-soluble citrus flavors stay suspended in the soda formula, rather than separating and floating to the top. [1][2] It may interest you to know that it is also used for the following:

-Flame retardant

-Gasoline additive (has declined from the 70s on)

– Pesticide

-Swimming pool maintenance

-Disinfectant

FDA Controls

Interestingly, the FDA designated Brominated Vegetable Oil to the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) list in 1958 and then retracted their decision in 1970. [2][3] Even more interesting is that the FDA has since declared BVO to be safe as a food additive if it is used in moderation.  This has been interpreted by the beverage industry to mean about 8 pp (parts per millionth)[1], and the FDA sets an upper limit at 15 pp.

So, am I the only one that thinks this screams of a mixed message?  If this element/chemical/substance–or whatever you want to call this bugger– was pulled from the GRAS list, why is it still used in the aforementioned beverages?  Seems to me that the beverage industry is more interested in what it does for the drink than what it does for your health

Health Effects

To date, there are not many studies analyzing the long-term health effects of this compound.  This is surprising, given the reported the health effects: [4]

-Hypothyroidism (by blocking iodine in the thyroid gland)

-Central nervous system depressant

-Skin rashes

-Acne

-Metallic aftertaste

-Fatigue

Conclusion:

Yes, this ingredient is not as pervasive in our food supply as it once was, and, yes, the FDA has limited its use per serving in the aforementioned drinks.  These are important steps, but I still cannot rest easy when I see some of my friends consuming up to TWO LITERS of Mountain Dew per day. That, my friends, is not unusual, and I can see how this over-consumption of bromine could cause serious health issues over time.

Please do me a favor: Please remember that we live on a planet that yields ALL of the food that we could possibly ever need or hope for.  The problem is that we are too smart for our own good, and we come up with commercial chemical concoctions that are horrible to our health–all in the name of making a buck.  Please do not fall prey to the commercialization of food and realize that natural HAS been better, IS better, and will ALWAYS be better than the chemical nonsense that we consume on a daily basis.  Be good to yourselves, my friends. You have a gift in your physical body, and it functions best when you keep the crap out of it!  Life is good!

God Bless,

Griff

  1. ^ “Pepsi Product Information: Ingredient Glossary”. PepsiCo. Retrieved 2007-09-17.

  2. ^ a b c d Paul Bendig, Lisa Maier, Walter Vetter (2012). “Brominated vegetable oil in soft drinks – an underrated source of human organobromine intake”. Food Chemistry 133 (3): 678–682.doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.01.058

  3. Food additives. Brominated vegetable oils; removal from list of substances generally recognized as safe. Federal Register (1970), 35(18), 1049

www.mercola.com” The Psychosis-Inducing Beverage Ingredient that you probably have never heard of” Jan. 11, 2005.

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