Coca-Cola is removing brominated vegetable oil (BVO) from its drinks, reports the Associated Press. The company said it will remove the controversial ingredient from all of its drinks that contain it, including Powerade sports drinks and some flavors of Fanta. In 2012, Mississippi teenager Sarah Kavanagh launched a petition on Change.org to have BVO removed from Gatorade, citing concerns that the ingredient has been linked to a flame retardant and is not approved for use in Japan or the European Union. PepsiCo announced last year that it would be removing BVO from Gatorade, but Kavanagh kept going and began a new petition directed at Coca-Cola’s Powerade. In a victory message on this second petition, Kavanagh wrote, “I’m glad to know the Powerade sold at my school and consumed by people around the world will be a little bit healthier without BVO in it. I knew that if Gatorade could do the right thing, so could Powerade.” According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, BVO is used “as a stabilizer for flavoring oils used in fruit-flavored beverages … in an amount not to exceed 15 parts per million in the finished beverage.” AP reports that Coca-Cola will remove BVO from its drinks globally.
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