PTC News Desk: The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently declared that it will no longer permit the use of hazardous additives in packaged drinks and food items. 

According to a statement released by the FDA, brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is a type of vegetable oil that is used as a food additive to prevent citrus flavouring from rising to the top of beverages, as reported by CNN. The FDA has also informed that this decision will take effect on August 2, 2024. 

According to the FDA statement, the packaged food companies will have a year from that date to reformulate and relabel their products and use up all of their BVO inventory.

What is Brominated Vegetable Oil? 

Vegetable oil that has been altered with bromine is known as brominated vegetable oil or BVO. It is typically used to suspend citrus flavourings and keep them from separating during shipping and storage in beverages like sodas, energy drinks, and packaged juices.

Following the Canadian Food and Drug Directorate's 1969 study, which concluded that bromine was harmful to human health, the FDA took BVO off the list of substances that were generally regarded as safe. BVO was previously limited to products that included fruit flavourings. 

According to a report released by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest, the additive is known to leave residues of bromine triglycerides in body fat, which can lead to harm to the brain, liver, and heart. 

Damage to the central nervous system, headaches, nausea, memory loss, and loss of coordination are a few of the typical side effects of bromine toxicity.