Patented as a flame retardant for plastics, about 10 percent of drinks sold in the United States contain brominated vegetable oil, including Mountain Dew, made by PepsiCo; Powerade, Fanta Orange and Fresca from Coca-Cola; and Squirt and Sunkist Peach Soda, made by the Dr Pepper Snapple Group. This emulsifier that is found on the ingredient list of many popular fruit flavored drinks is banned in all of Europe and Japan!
Don't trust the FDA to protect your children. READ ABOUT BVO YOURSELF!
I have included lots of links to reputable articles and a couple of videos on the dangers of brominated vegetable oil. I beg you to reconsider allowing your children to drink anything with BVO in it! It is harmful to adults too… read on.
“Mom… There's NOTHING to Drink!”
I suggest water, tea, lemon water, orange juice, Want More Energy, or sometimes we have other “treats.” I even let my kids buy their own drinks that I refuse to buy… Mountain Dew is one of their favorites. My son went out with his Grampa the other day and came home with 4 cases of Mountain Dew. Those will be the last Mountain Dews that come into this house.
Cherish them. Mountain Dew is no longer allowed under this roof.
When the kids want a treat in this house, it will be something without BVO. The most popular sodas Coca-Cola and Pepsi do not contain BVO. Not that ANY soda is good for you. They are not. I'm just saying if it is a special treat your kids want, choose wisely!
Change.org
Wonderful things can be accomplished with online petitions. I would like to thank Sarah Kavanaugh and her little brother for writing a well thought out petition to PepsiCo to take the BVO out of Gatorade. Now, if they would just take it out of Mountain Dew and other drinks!
Thanks to Sarah and others who go out of their way to spread awareness about dangerous chemicals like BVO in our drinks. Let's hope that other companies follow suit and remove this toxic additive.
The Mayo Clinic
Most people have heard of the Mayo Clinic and consider them to have some expertise in the medical community, right? Anyone who has ever been chronically ill, knows how conservative the Mayo Clinic is. Although I would never go there for medical care or advice, I feel comfortable quoting an article from the Mayo Clinic.
Health concerns about BVO stem from the fact that it contains bromine, the element found in brominated flame retardants. Only a few studies have looked at possible safety issues, but it appears that bromine builds up in the body. There also have been a few reports of people experiencing memory loss and skin and nerve problems after drinking excessive amounts (more than 2 liters a day) of soda containing BVO.
I underlined “it appears that bromine builds up in the body” because I wanted to call your attention to that. Bromine is one of the thousand so toxins your body is attacked by every day. I would avoid it because your health depends on keeping the toxins that are entering your body lower than the toxins that are exiting your body.
Some of us are genetically unable to detox on our own. That's ok.
Why is it ok?
Because we can detox with a little help from natural supplements and wholesome, clean food. As long as we keep the toxins leaving the body higher than the toxins coming in we are moving toward health. That makes it super important for the detox challenged to AVOID TOXINS LIKE BVO!
PepsiCo cuts flame retardant BVO from US Gatorade but not Mountain Dew January 28, 2013
Center for Science in the Public Interest on BVO
Dr. Mercola on brominated vegetable oil
The New York Times on brominated vegetable oil
Scientific American on brominated vegetable oil
Environmental Health News on brominated vegetable oil
Bromism from excessive cola consumption (PubMed)
Snopes on brominated vegetable oil
My Fox Chicago on BVO (video)
