Health Canada Bans Popular Soda Stabilizer: Here’s Why

A food additive commonly used in soft drinks and sports beverages has been banned in Canada after research found harmful health effects linked to its consumption.
BVO is often used as a stabilizer in citrus beverages to keep the flavouring from separating from the rest of the liquid. The chemical compound has been used as a food ingredient since the 1920s.
Animals given BVO orally sustained adverse effects on certain organs such as the liver, heart, and thyroid, laboratory research found. Health Canada said the adverse effects were observed at significantly higher dosages than what humans would typically consume from beverages containing BVO as a food additive.
Health Canada said it reviewed the results of the studies as part of its updated safety assessment of BVO. The chief concern was determining what constituted a safe consumption level for humans.
Coca-Cola, the producer of Sprite, Fanta, Fresca, and Powerade, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that BVO has not been included on its ingredient list for some time.
“We can confirm that brominated vegetable oil (BVO) was phased out of our products several years ago,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said. “BVO is currently on our restricted use materials list for additives.”
PepsiCo, which owns the Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Crush brands said in an emailed statement that it “does not produce or distribute any products with BVO.”
Health Canada said it would allow a one-year transition period to give impacted manufacturers the chance to reformulate and relabel their beverages because the updated safety assessment “did not find an immediate health concern with the current permitted use of BVO as a food additive.”
All beverage companies using BVO in its products must indicate the ingredient on its labels during the one-year grace period.