Posted on 05/06/2014 12:13:55 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
The world's largest beverage-maker, Coca-Cola, plans to remove a controversial ingredient from some of its US 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.
Rival Pepsi removed the chemical from its Gatorade sports drink last year.
In Japan and the European Union, the use of BVO as a food additive is not allowed.
Pepsi has a plan to remove the ingredient from its entire product portfolio.
It uses BVO in its Mountain Dew and Amp Energy drinks sold in the US.
BVO has been used as a stabiliser in fruit-flavoured drinks as it helps to prevent ingredients from separating.
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 Recognised as Safe" list of food ingredients in 1970.
However, drinks companies in the US are allowed to use BVO at up to 15 parts per million.'Safe'
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."
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 said that BVO was not used in many nations other than the US, but it would be removed from products in Canada and Latin America.Online petition
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.''
I have to date myself. My wife won’t let me date anybody else!................
Sugar is sugar.
Hurray for sucrose acetate isobutyrate and glycerol ester of rosin!
Mexican coke in glass bottles is available in the US, you just gotta look for it. I get it from the local family dollar store.
CC
I was just reading up on this over the weekend. They think the bromine in BVO mimics iodine and will attach to the receptors in the thyroid. Bad stuff.
There’s always fracking.
Buy Mexican Cokes! They are made with real cane sugar!
Genetically modified sugar is not *really* sugar. It may taste sweet, but it can damage the body. Long term side effects of aspartame and other genetically modified foods contribute to all kinds of nasty health complications.
My take? If you’re consuming enough of these fruit flavored sodas and sports drinks for “up to” 15 ppm of BVO (which hasn’t even been proven to be harmful, has it?) to be a health concern, the massive amounts of refined sugar you’re taking in should probably be a much bigger concern.
Well, the science is settled then.
You forgot beer and bourbon...
“Dublin Dr. Pepper” is a no longer produced.
Just drink water. Your body will thank you for it
Just saw it in Brookshires here in E. Texas for 8.99 (per six)
Bromides displace iodine in the thyroid and other tissues. Fat is not the issue.
"Dublin Dr Pepper was the popular name for a style of Dr Pepper soft drink made by the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company in Dublin, Texas. Dublin Dr Pepper followed the original recipe, using cane sugar as the sweetener as opposed to newer high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS). The Dublin plant formula's use of sugar made it popular among soda fans. According to the corporate headquarters at Dr Pepper Snapple Group, this resulted in clashes with other bottlers and the parent company of Dr Pepper. On 12 January 2012, it was announced that Dublin Dr. Pepper will no longer be produced, after the Dublin Dr Pepper Bottling Company settled the trademark dispute instigated by Dr Pepper Snapple Group."
Dr.Pepper with cane sugar is still produced by a bottling company in Temple, Texas
The Coca-Cola Company ... BTW ... used to be a major source of the raw material legit drug companies use to make cocaine-based drugs ... used in eye surgery, etc. I wonder if that still happens.
Besides cocaine, pparently mashed coca leaves also have a bitter flavoring agent in them that was part of the original Coca-Cola formula. Originally, I am told, Coca-Cola (prounced Ko-Kola) had a bit more of a jolt than it has nowadays!
Chinese-made tools, patterned after old-fashioned American tools, and made with metal-like substances, are sometimes able to complete tricky tasks before they break.
Whew! I am glad the science is settled. We got George Bush outa there just in the nick of time.
I also read that BVO caused massive sexual deviance in Indonesia.
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