FDA To Finally Ban Brominated Vegetable Oils From Beverages, Which Was Already Banned Around The World

Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is finally going to be banned by the FDA, after decades of research indicating health problems associated with the processed additive.

Last year California passed a law that banned four common harmful ingredients found commonly in many foods, beverages, and candies, which included BVOs, and therefore means consumables that contain the ingredients cannot be sold in the state – a law move that could face companies across the nations to replace those additives and artificial ingredients with something else.

Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) is commonly found in soda pops, Gatorade and similar products, fruit juices, and iced teas. Europe wholly bans this substance. BVO has a list of things it damages, such as causing neurological damage, thyroid problems in rats, reproductive toxicity in animals, and increase triglyceride and cholesterol content in the heart and liver.

Reporting on the expulsion of this ingredient, Science Alert reported (excerpts):

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The FDA proposed in November to revoke the registration of a modified vegetable oil known as BVO in the wake of recent toxicology studies that make it difficult to support its ongoing use.

“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,” James Jones, FDA deputy commissioner for human foods, explained when announcing the proposal.

BVO, or brominated vegetable oil, has been used as an emulsifying agent since the 1930s to ensure citrus flavoring agents don’t float to the top of sodas. Sticking a dozen bromine atoms to a triglyceride creates a dense oil that floats evenly throughout water when mixed with less dense fats.

Yet the FDA has been slow to convince. In the 1950s, the agency regarded the ingredient as generally recognized as safe (GRAS); an official classification afforded items that have either been appropriately tested or – for ingredients in common use prior to 1958 – don’t appear to be harmful.

“Over the years many beverage makers reformulated their products to replace BVO with an alternative ingredient, and today, few beverages in the US contain BVO,” said Jones.

The ban could be a sign of more things to come, with Jones announcing the agency is reviewing regulations that authorize the use of certain food additives, with a view to automatically prohibit the approval of any food coloring agents found to cause cancer in humans or animals, making for a more nimble bureaucratic process.

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

The FDA and the whole U.S. government could be summarized with this verse:

And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.

1 Samuel 8:3

It’s an absolute joke that the FDA has considered this ingredient, and a plethora of so many others, as “safe,” even though basically the rest of the world has said it’s bad. And, not shockingly at all, they are exponentially healthier than Americans and live longer, fuller, and happier lives, and have more children on top of it. What a shock!

And now, at this point, this move is a bit of a nothingburger, since most companies have already taken it out anyways. That’s not to say that those companies and products should be trusted. Of course, the FDA and USDA is infamous for tweaking definitions and regulations to create new loopholes and the same ingredients by a new name. This happens so often after consumers start to catch onto what companies are doing; hence, 1 Samuel 8:3 as listed above.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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