Six Household Soda Brands That May Look or Taste Different After the FDA Bans a Key Ingredient
Some of your favorite sodas may look or taste different after health authorities banned the use of a potentially harmful ingredient.
This week, the FDA banned the use of brominated vegetable oil (BVO). BVO has been linked to a host of health problems. It was labeled as unsafe.
From August 2, brands will have one year to remove BVO from products, change recipes and clear out any inventory that still contains the ingredient.
Used in small amounts to prevent flavors from separating and floating to the top, BVO is primarily responsible for giving citrus soft drinks their bright colors and smooth texture.
Some experts told DailyMail.com that removing BVO from soft drinks should not affect the taste, but they did admit that it could change the appearance of the liquids.
Others claimed it could lead to changes in taste and texture.
Brominated vegetable oil is used in several citrus beverages, including some Sun Drop soft drinks
Kim Shapira, a registered dietitian at the Kim Shapira Method in Los Angeles, told DailyMail.com: ‘BVO is used to stabilize drinks.’
“In other words, it directly affects the way the product looks visually and textually. Without it, you might see separation, which can make the product look cloudy or flat.”
She noted that while BVO “does not affect the taste and has no aftertaste,” removing BVO can make drinks “seem less palatable.”
However, Dr. Darin Detwiler, a former adviser to the FDA and USDA and a food safety expert at Northeastern University, told DailyMail.com that “removing BVO will likely require adjustments by manufacturers that could change the taste, texture and color of their products.”
He pointed out that some Mountain Dew fans had noticed changes after PepsiCo removed BVO.
“Is it just me or does Mountain Dew Original not taste like it used to,” one Reddit user said Posted last year. ‘It doesn’t have the citrus flavor I remembered anymore and it tastes very sweet and bitter now.’
‘OG Mtn Dew will never taste the same again.’
Sun Drop is the best-known example that still contains BVO in the flavors lemon, lime and sweet orange.
However, last year the company indicated that it was revising the recipes.
BVO has also been found in Detroit-based Faygo’s soft drink Moon Mist and Borden’s fruit drinks Pink Lemonade and Pineapple.
Del’s Lemonade and Dean’s Orange and Fruit Punch flavors also list BVO on their ingredient labels.
And several flavors of D&G soda, a national brand that distributes Jamaican-inspired beverages, contain BVO. These include Ginger Beer, Orange and Pineapple varieties.
BVO is not found in other foods or sweets.
In recent years, BVO has been removed from popular beverages like Mountain Dew and Gatorade, although it is still found in other citrus brands
BVO is an additive that prevents citrus flavors from floating to the top or not being evenly distributed throughout the drink.
It has been used since the 1920s and in the 1950s and 1960s the FDA deemed the use of BVO as generally recognized as safe (GRAS).
However, the additive lost its GRAS status in the 1970s, and regulators have been monitoring studies to determine whether it poses a risk to human health.
Research at the time showed that animals given BVO suffered from harmful effects on the heart. However, additional studies have eliminated these safety risks.
Additionally, research has shown that BVO can cause headaches, memory loss, balance problems, and thyroid problems.
Exposure to the additive may also cause irritation to the nose, throat, lungs, and the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat, stomach, and lungs.
The FDA reported this week that it has determined that BVO is unsafe for use, following the results of studies it conducted in collaboration with the NIH.
PepsiCo stopped using BVO in all of its beverages, including Mountain Dew, Brisk, Gatorade and Starry, in 2019.
In addition to BVO, Sun Drop’s citrus flavor also contains yellow 5, which is banned in countries like the UK because it contains benzidine, a carcinogen for humans and animals that is permitted in low doses.
According to the FDA, taking free benzidine increases the risk of cancer to just below the “concern” threshold, or one cancer per 1 million people.
On a scale of one to ten, with ten being the worst, consumer organization Environmental Working Group (EWG) gives Sun Drop a 10 for its use of BVO, Yellow 5 and the additive sodium benzoate.
“Given the potential health risks associated with BVO, consumers may need to be cautious with products containing this ingredient until the transition is complete,” Dr. Detwiler said.