PepsiCo is removing brominated vegetable oil (BVO), a bromine-containing chemical that is found in flame retardants, from its Gatorade drinks in response to consumer concerns, Reuters reported.
BVO, which has long been used in Fanta Orange, Mountain Dew and other beverages to keep flavor oils in suspension, was present in Gatorade Orange and Lemonade and other flavors.
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The announcement came after a 15-year-old Mississippi girl filed an online petition on Change.org asking PepsiCo to remove BVO from Gatorade. The petition received more than 200,000 signatures as of Jan. 25. However, PepsiCo says the move to replace BVO has been in the works for some time and it was not a response to the petition.
According to food safety watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest, BVO is a “poorly tested and possibly dangerous food additive.”
