Brominated Vegetable Oil May Soon Be Banned by the FDA

For a packaged food to enter the market, the ingredient list must specify every component that’s featured in the recipe, unless there’s a special exemption. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration regularly reviews and analyzes all food and color additives, items they have previously deemed generally recognized as safe (GRAS), food packaging, and any potential contaminants to ensure products on the market are safe to consume. 

One ingredient in particular, brominated vegetable oil (BVO), was declared GRAS by the FDA in 1970, but will be banned in California (and perhaps Missouri, Washington, New York, and Illinois, too, if similar laws pass) in 2027. Officials in Japan, India, and parts of Europe have previously banned BVO in drinks and food products, says Mackenzie Burgess, RDN, a Denver-based registered dietitian nutritionist and recipe developer at Cheerful Choices.

Recently, the FDA also recently proposed to revoke its approval of BVO. So what is this oil, and what’s the big deal?

What is BVO?

Unlike common cooking oils like olive, canola, sunflower, or avocado oil, BVO is not used for its cooking property or nutritional values, says Lauren Manaker, M.S., RD, LD, a registered dietitian and owner of Nutrition Now Counseling in Charleston, South Carolina.

“Cooking oils are extracted from plants and seeds and are used in a wide range of culinary applications because of their flavors, nutritional profiles, and varying smoke points. BVO, on the other hand, is chemically modified and used exclusively for its functional properties in food manufacturing, not for consumption in its pure form or as a source of dietary fat,” Manaker confirms.

BVO is a specific kind of vegetable oil that’s modified through the addition of bromine, a chemical element, Burgess explains. Its primary use in the food and beverage industry is as an emulsifier and a stabilizing agent in beverages, preventing citrus flavorings from separating and rising to the top. 

“The addition of bromine gives it a higher density which can blend with the water-based parts of a drink more effectively,” Burgess says. “This characteristic makes BVO uniquely valuable for preventing separation in certain products, ensuring consistency throughout the shelf life of the product.”

Where BVO is hiding out?

Far and away, BVO has been most commonly used in citrus sodas. That said, the FDA says that many manufacturers have reformulated their products since the 1970s to include other alternative emulsifiers.

Aside from citrus-flavored sodas, BVO can also be found in certain energy drinks, sports drinks, fruit-flavored syrups, sauces, dressings, and even some baked goods to help maintain a consistent texture, prevent separation, and to increase the overall stability of the product, Burgess and Manaker clarify. 

“Additionally, BVO can has been used in some dairy-based products in which the emulsion of fat and water is critical to product stability, although its use in these areas is relatively rare compared to its prominence in the beverage sector,” Manaker says.

And in case you were curious, Pepsi and Coca-Cola’s lemon-lime sodas (Starry and Sprite) and orange sodas (Crush and Fanta) do not contain BVO at this time.

Is BVO safe to consume?

“Know better, do better” feels like a fitting mantra here, and the FDA is admitting that it is  adjusting its stance based on science. “The proposed action is an example of how the agency monitors emerging evidence and, as needed, conducts scientific research to investigate safety-related questions, and takes regulatory action when the science does not support the continued safe use of additives in foods,” according to a November 2023 statement from the agency.

Recent toxicology studies are shedding light on the fact that BVO “might have deeper impacts on our health than previously recognized,” Manaker says. 

Growing evidence indicates potential connections between consuming BVO and the development of thyroid problems, heart issues, and behavioral changes, Burgess adds. Since these are such wide-ranging ripple effects, this new science “highlights the complexity of how BVO interacts with our body’s internal systems,” Manker continues.

It’s still early, though, and the initial studies were performed on rats. “We don’t yet have incredibly strong data to definitively show that consumption of this ingredient is guaranteed to cause harm in humans,” Manaker says.

While a one-off exposure is unlikely to have detrimental effects on one’s health, Manaker admits, the FDA doesn’t want to risk it — and doesn’t want folks who regularly consume certain products to be taking in a bevy of BVO.

What’s next for BVO — and your favorite citrus sodas

As of November 2023, the FDA proposed a new rule. If approved, this would mean BVO can no longer be used in food sold in the United States. (A similar example would be partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), one of the most common sources of trans fats, no longer being deemed as GRAS in 2015.) 

“In order for the FDA to ban a certain food, they look at science-backed evidence demonstrating health concerns,” Burgess says.

As we mentioned, a handful of states aren’t waiting on the FDA, and are instituting their own bans that would prohibit the sale, delivery, or distribution of products made with BVO. Until we learn more, “it’s wise to watch how much you’re consuming and aim to cut back, especially if you frequently drink beverages that contain BVO such as SunDrop or orange soda from Dollar Tree,” Burgess says.

For a smarter swap, she recommends doctoring up sparkling water with a splash of fresh citrus juice, or crack open a citrus Spindrift or an Orange Squeeze OLIPOP.