Coca Cola drops ingredient

Coca Cola decided to drop brominated vegetable oil from their products this week. This is a similar move to Pepsi removing it from their product of Gatorade last year. Brominated Vegetable oil is found in Powerade, and drinks like Fanta and Fresca.

The reason for this brominated vegetable oil being removed is due to petitioning on Change.org by a teenager.

A teenager from Mississipipi, named Sarah Kavanagh wanted the brominated vegetable oil from Gatorade and Powerade products.

According to an article that can be found in the link that is below, “The Food and Drug Administration says the ingredient is used as a stabilizer for flavoring oils in fruit-flavored drinks. But Kavanagh's petition noted that it has been patented as a flame retardant and isn't approved for use in Japan or the European Union.”

However, brominated vegetable oil is legal and complies with regulations in the countries it is sold in.

The article on Sarah Kavanagh’s petition and why Coca Cola and Pepsi companies have removed this product from their products, can be found here:

http://money.msn.com/businessnews/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140505&id=17586970

Brominated vegetable oil is used for improving the stability of its drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade. Brominated vegetable oil can also prevent certain ingredients from separating in drinks.

The article tells readers that Coca Cola will instead use sucrose acetate isobutyrate and glycerol ester of rosin, which it said is commonly found in things like gum and other drinks. Coca Cola said sucrose acetate isobutyrate has been used in its drinks for over fourteen years.

This whole thing just goes to show you that you should look into what goes into your foods as well as if you want to make a change you do have a voice and you should use it. This is related to the Food Inc movie in many ways. Both tell us to “Speak up America!”