Gatorade pulls ingredient linked to flame retardant

Brominated vegetable oil, a synthetic chemical that has been patented in Europe as a flame retardant, will no longer double as an ingredient in Gatorade sports drinks. Molly Carter, a spokeswoman for Gatorade owner PepsiCo Inc., said the company has been considering the move for more than a year, working on a way to take out the ingredient without affecting the flavor of the drink.

A recent petition on Change.org to drop the chemical – which has more than 200,000 supporters – did not inspire the decision, Carter said, though she acknowledged that consumer feedback was the main impetus. In the petition, posted by Sarah Kavanagh of Hattiesburg, Miss., “BVO” is described as banned in Japan and the European Union.

The effort quotes a Scientific American article suggesting that “BVO could be building up in human tissues” and that studies on mice have shown “reproductive and behavioral problems” linked to large doses of the chemical. The reformulated Gatorade flavors “will start rolling out in the next few months,” Carter said. There’s no hard date for the launch because “we’re not recalling Gatorade,” she said.

“We don’t think our products are unsafe. We don’t think there are health or safety risks.” The BVO ingredient was used as a flavor emulsifier, helping to distribute Gatorade’s coloring throughout the bottle, Carter said. Now, the company is swapping in another emulsifier with an intimidating name: sucrose acetate isobutyrate.

I wanted to bring this to the attention of people such as myself who often drink Gatorade. It appears one of their ingredients, as recognized and patented in Europe, for the use of a flame retardant(Brominated Vegetable Oil). Gatorade believes that their products aren't "unsafe and doesn't pose health risks" But it says in the article that:

The effort quotes a Scientific American article suggesting that “BVO could be building up in human tissues” and that studies on mice have shown “reproductive and behavioral problems”

Now my question is, how long has this ingredient been active in the Gatorade formula, and will it have adverse effects on people that drink it regularly later on down the road?

I think it would be wise to wait until Gatorade puts out it's reformulated product, you just don't know whats in food and drinks these days, scary really.

Source LA Times

Brominized vegetable oil is in a lot of what we consume.
Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lots of diet drinks.
It's just one of the many harmful ingredients to drinks and food.
Need to get rid of high fructose syrup too.

Water is flame retardant too.

I remember a thread on this, and I did some research on Brominated vegetable oil.

Originally posted by SpearMint
It's vegetable oil with Bromine added to it to keep citrus flavours suspended in the drink. It can cause small side effects like skin problems with excessive consumption. Don't drink litres of the stuff, there are loads of things that can cause side effects when taken in large doses.

What will they use as a substitute after this is banned? What side effects could that have?

It's not poison, the actual drink will do more harm if you consume enough for the BVO to do anything.

If it's proven that it builds up and causes problems then it might be an issue.

Originally posted by GmoS719
Brominized vegetable oil is in a lot of what we consume.
Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lots of diet drinks.
It's just one of the many harmful ingredients to drinks and food.
Need to get rid of high fructose syrup too.

Good point, It's pretty crazy we consume all of these products that are bad for our health, but these industries keep pushing it down the production line, without a care in the world... except their bottom line.

I wasn't aware that BVO was used as a flame retardant, I haven't done much research into it. So if anybody has some conclusive sources against BVO, feel free to leave it here so I can check back on it.

Consumers have to wake up and understand that big companies don't care if you get cancer and die. You can't sue them. Drink lots of water and get off the man made beverages and food.

They change because we are becoming more informed and we need to demand our food is safe for us and our children.

Originally posted by SpearMint
Water is flame retardant too.

I remember a thread on this, and I did some research on Brominated vegetable oil.

Originally posted by SpearMint
It's vegetable oil with Bromine added to it to keep citrus flavours suspended in the drink. It can cause small side effects like skin problems with excessive consumption. Don't drink litres of the stuff, there are loads of things that can cause side effects when taken in large doses.

What will they use as a substitute after this is banned? What side effects could that have?

It's not poison, the actual drink will do more harm if you consume enough for the BVO to do anything.

If it's proven that it builds up and causes problems then it might be an issue.

edit on 25-1-2013 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

Well, if you consume liters of water, you aren't really gonna experience too many problems, other than feeling bloated.

But the fact that drinking a lot of BVO (in my case i drank a lot of gatorade for awhile)and it's ability to still be harmful to the body, I believe they need to find healthier methods.

Originally posted by eXia7

Originally posted by SpearMint
Water is flame retardant too.

I remember a thread on this, and I did some research on Brominated vegetable oil.

Originally posted by SpearMint
It's vegetable oil with Bromine added to it to keep citrus flavours suspended in the drink. It can cause small side effects like skin problems with excessive consumption. Don't drink litres of the stuff, there are loads of things that can cause side effects when taken in large doses.

What will they use as a substitute after this is banned? What side effects could that have?

It's not poison, the actual drink will do more harm if you consume enough for the BVO to do anything.

If it's proven that it builds up and causes problems then it might be an issue.

edit on 25-1-2013 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

Well, if you consume liters of water, you aren't really gonna experience too many problems, other than feeling bloated.

But the fact that drinking a lot of BVO (in my case i drank a lot of gatorade for awhile)and it's ability to still be harmful to the body, I believe they need to find healthier methods.

Actually if you drink a lot of water in a short period of time you can die from water intoxication. I expect this is especially true for isotonic drinks like Gatorade since it's absorbed more easily. It's not proven to be harmful, people that have had issues with it have drunk way too much. Maybe alternatives are worse.

Also, just because something has a practical use doesn't mean it's bad to consume. The fact that it's used as a fire retardant is irrelevant.

Originally posted by SpearMint

Originally posted by eXia7

Originally posted by SpearMint
Water is flame retardant too.

I remember a thread on this, and I did some research on Brominated vegetable oil.

Originally posted by SpearMint
It's vegetable oil with Bromine added to it to keep citrus flavours suspended in the drink. It can cause small side effects like skin problems with excessive consumption. Don't drink litres of the stuff, there are loads of things that can cause side effects when taken in large doses.

What will they use as a substitute after this is banned? What side effects could that have?

It's not poison, the actual drink will do more harm if you consume enough for the BVO to do anything.

If it's proven that it builds up and causes problems then it might be an issue.

edit on 25-1-2013 by SpearMint because: (no reason given)

Well, if you consume liters of water, you aren't really gonna experience too many problems, other than feeling bloated.

But the fact that drinking a lot of BVO (in my case i drank a lot of gatorade for awhile)and it's ability to still be harmful to the body, I believe they need to find healthier methods.

Actually if you drink a lot of water in a short period of time you can die from water intoxication. I expect this is especially true for isotonic drinks like Gatorade since it's absorbed more easily. It's not proven to be harmful, people that have had issues with it have drunk way too much. Maybe alternatives are worse.

Also, just because something has a practical use doesn't mean it's bad to consume. The fact that it's used as a fire retardant is irrelevant.

Well, I knew about consuming too much water in a short period of time, I meant spread out. But I'm still going to look more into BVO. I figured I'd bring this up to people who weren't sure about BVO such as myself. Thanks for adding some input, at least I have 2 sides of the argument to work with, instead of going off the assumption it's only bad.

Originally posted by Kargun
Consumers have to wake up and understand that big companies don't care if you get cancer and die. You can't sue them. Drink lots of water and get off the man made beverages and food.

They change because we are becoming more informed and we need to demand our food is safe for us and our children.

And we know that water is bad for you too. Look at all the chemicals in it.

Pretty everything is bad for us. Why make a big deal about Gatorade when there us far worse in diet sodas?

Originally posted by GmoS719
Brominized vegetable oil is in a lot of what we consume.
Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Lots of diet drinks.
It's just one of the many harmful ingredients to drinks and food.
Need to get rid of high fructose syrup too.

Who is "we"?
I treat all that stuff like it's from a Nazi laboratory.... because it all is!!

Diet flavored battery acid and dyed caulking agents isn't my idea of liquid refreshments. I stick to spring water or brown liquor that can burn the hair off a gorilla. That refreshes and kills all the viruses thereafter.

They replaced Brominated vegetable oil with sucrose acetate isobutyrate. MUCH better!

Here's the chemical information: www.chembase.com...

"Potential Health Effects
Inhalation:
Inhalation causes severe irritation to the respiratory tract. Symptoms of overexposure
1 of 32 www.chembase.com...
include headache, dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, coughing, insomnia, diarrhea,
gastrointestinal disturbances, and back pain with urinary frequency. Liver and kidney
damage may occur. May be fatal.
Ingestion:
Toxic effects parallel those of inhalation. MAY BE FATAL IF SWALLOWED. (Caps mine)
Skin Contact:
Causes severe irritation, possibly burns, to the skin. Symptoms include redness and severe
pain. Absorption through the skin may occur, resulting in toxic effects similar to inhalation.
May act as a photosensitizer.
Eye Contact:
Vapors cause eye irritation. Splashes cause severe irritation, possible corneal burns and eye
damage.
Chronic Exposure:
Liver and kidney damage has been reported.
Aggravation of Pre-existing Conditions:
Persons with pre-existing skin, eye or central nervous system disorders, or impaired liver, kidney, or
pulmonary function may be more susceptible to the effects of this substance."

I saw this mentioned the other day on the news. So its an additive that keeps people from having to shake up other additives that would cake on the bottom?

I am so sick of these bloated federal agencies that are suppose to be watching what is good and bad for us. I am tired of buying stale cigarettes at the gas station, yet farmers can't make profit without grants because their milk or cereal has expiration dates. It's all a big freaking racket and I think it stinks.

Stuff like this is what I thought Obama would clean up. Maybe there would be less unstable people out there if the FDA was doing it's job? Less chemicals and drugs. No they want to take a hunk of metal and wood from you?

Diet flavored battery acid and dyed caulking agents isn't my idea of liquid refreshments. I stick to spring water or brown liquor that can burn the hair off a gorilla. That refreshes and kills all the viruses thereafter.