Health Canada Bans Popular Soda Stabilizer: Here’s Why

Health Canada’s ban of brominated vegetable oil, commonly used in soft drinks and sports beverages, took effect Aug. 30. The move comes amid mounting concerns about the health risks associated with the additive.1take1shot/Shutterstock

A food additive commonly used in soft drinks and sports beverages has been banned in Canada after research found harmful health effects linked to its consumption.

Health Canada’s ban of brominated vegetable oil (BVO), which took effect Aug. 30, comes amid mounting concerns about the health risks associated with the additive.

It also follows the lead of the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. which banned the food stabilizer on July 3. BVO is also banned as a food additive in Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

What is BVO?

Brominated vegetable oil is treated with bromine, a naturally occurring chemical element present in the Earth’s crust and in seawater.

BVO is often used as a stabilizer in citrus beverages to keep the flavouring from separating from the rest of the liquid. The chemical compound has been used as a food ingredient since the 1920s.

Health Canada allowed a maximum level of 15 parts per million (ppm) in beverages containing citrus or spruce oils prior to the ban.

The government agency put forward a proposal in May to ban BVO as a food additive after an evaluation of its safety profile. The ban was officially put in place at the end of August when the agency removed BVO from its list of approved food additives.

Health Effects

Testing of the substance raised health concerns about how much BVO is safe to consume, Health Canada said.

Animals given BVO orally sustained adverse effects on certain organs such as the liver, heart, and thyroid, laboratory research found. Health Canada said the adverse effects were observed at significantly higher dosages than what humans would typically consume from beverages containing BVO as a food additive.

A more recent study conducted by the U.S. FDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2022 found comparable results in rats that were administered lower doses of BVO in their diet, compared to the doses given in past studies.

Health Canada said it reviewed the results of the studies as part of its updated safety assessment of BVO. The chief concern was determining what constituted a safe consumption level for humans.

“Health Canada could not establish an acceptable daily intake (ADI) for BVO as a food additive based on the available safety data,” reads a post on its website.

“Given that adverse effects previously observed at higher doses have now been seen at lower doses, Health Canada concluded that BVO should not continue to be permitted for use as a food additive.”

Which Products Are Impacted?

BVO was used for years as an additive in a number of popular citrus-flavoured sports drinks and pops.

Coca-Cola, the producer of Sprite, Fanta, Fresca, and Powerade, told The Epoch Times in an emailed statement that BVO has not been included on its ingredient list for some time.

“We can confirm that brominated vegetable oil (BVO) was phased out of our products several years ago,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said. “BVO is currently on our restricted use materials list for additives.”

PepsiCo, which owns the Mountain Dew, Gatorade, and Crush brands said in an emailed statement that it “does not produce or distribute any products with BVO.”

Health Canada said it would allow a one-year transition period to give impacted manufacturers the chance to reformulate and relabel their beverages because the updated safety assessment “did not find an immediate health concern with the current permitted use of BVO as a food additive.”

All beverage companies using BVO in its products must indicate the ingredient on its labels during the one-year grace period.