Coca Cola Products Will No Longer Include a Controversial Ingredient Due to Scrutiny From Those on Social Media; Pepsi Joined the Bandwagon

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After a large group of people protested against brominated vegetable oil, an ingredient used in beverages to keep them from separating, Coca-Cola will no longer use it in their products.




Although the United States Food and Drug Administration excluded BVO from their "Generally Recognized as Safe" list of food ingredients in 1970, drinking companies like Coca-Cola have continued to use it in their beverages.




Food activists websites like Change.org have been criticizing big corporations like Coca-Cola for using BVO, an ingredient accused of causing memory loss, tremors, fatigue, headaches, and other symptoms, according to the  Journal of Toxicology . BVO contains bromide, what is found in brominated flame retardants.




The  New York Times reported that Change.org got over 200,000 people to sign a petition against BVO in ready-to-drink products. This triggered PepsiCo Inc. to cut BVO from Gatorade last year. Now they are dropping the component from the rest of their products.




To replace BVO, Coca-Cola will now use sucrose acetate isobutyrate or glycerol ester of rosin. Whether they will be used together or separately has not been determined yet.




“Glycerol ester of rosin is commonly found in chewing gum and beverages, and SAIB has been used in beverages for over 14 years,” said Coca-Cola spokesperson Josh Gold in a statement, according to  Bloomberg . “All of our beverages, including those with BVO, are safe and always have been -- and comply with all regulations in the countries where they are sold. The safety and quality of our products is our highest priority.”




Gold added that Coca-Cola's fruit punch and strawberry lemonade flavored Powerade sports drinks already contain glycerol ester of rosin.