Brominated vegetable oil

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a complex mixture of plant-derived triglycerides that have been modified by atoms of the element bromine bonded to the fat molecules. Brominated vegetable oil is used to help emulsify citrus-flavored soft drinks, preventing them from separating during distribution. Brominated vegetable oil has been used by the soft drink industry since 1931, generally at a level of about 8 ppm.^[1][2]

Careful control of the type of oil used allows bromination of it to produce BVO with a specific density of 1.33 g/mL, which is 33% greater than water (1 g/mL). As a result, it can be mixed with less-dense flavoring agents such as citrus oil to produce an oil which matches the density of water or other products. The droplets containing BVO remain suspended in the water rather than separating and floating to the surface.^[2]

Alternative food additives used for the same purpose include sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB, E444) and glycerol ester of wood rosin (ester gum, E445).

Similar iodinated oils have been used as contrast agents and for goiter prophylaxis in populations with low dietary iodine intake.

Brominated vegetable oil has the CAS number 8016-94-2 and the EC number 232-416-5.^[3]

Regulation and use[edit]

United States[edit]

In the United States, BVO was designated in 1958 as generally recognized as safe (GRAS),^[2] but this was withdrawn by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1970.^[4] In 2024, the FDA revoked regulations allowing the use of BVO in food.^[5] The agency concluded that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.

In October 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom approved a law that banned the manufacture, sale, and distribution of brominated vegetable oil (along with three other additives: potassium bromate, propylparaben, and Red 3). This was the first law in the U.S. to ban it.^[6] The ban of its use in foods will go into effect in 2027.^[7][8]

Other countries[edit]

In Canada, BVO is currently permitted as a food additive, but only in beverages containing citrus or spruce oils.^[9]

In the European Union, BVO is banned from use as a food additive; it was originally banned in the UK and several other European countries in 1970;^[10][11] and any BVO-containing products that may slip through the regulations are pulled from shelves upon discovery.^[12] In the EU, beverage companies commonly use glycerol ester of wood rosin or locust bean gum as an alternative to BVO.

In India, standards for soft drinks have prohibited the use of BVO since 1990.^[13]

In Japan, the use of BVO as a food additive has been banned since 2010.^[2]

Health effects[edit]

There are case reports of adverse effects associated with excessive consumption of BVO-containing products. One case reported that a man who consumed two to four liters of a soda containing BVO on a daily basis experienced memory loss, tremors, fatigue, loss of muscle coordination, headache, and ptosis of the right eyelid, as well as elevated serum chloride.^[14] In the two months it took to correctly diagnose the problem, the patient also lost the ability to walk. Eventually, bromism was diagnosed and hemodialysis was prescribed which resulted in a reversal of the disorder.^[15]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Brominated Battle: Soda Chemical Has Cloudy Health History
• WHO/Food and Agriculture Organization 1970 report
• Behavioral and reproductive effects of chronic developmental exposure to brominated vegetable oil in rats
• FDA Everything Added to Food in the United States (EAFUS) entry for brominated vegetable oil Archived 2016-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
• Gesundheitliche Bewertung von Erfrischungsgetränken mit zugesetzten bromierten Pflanzenölen. Stellungnahme Nr. 023/2014 des Bundesinstituts für Risikobewertung vom 4. Juli 2014