Is That Flame Retardant In Your Soft Drink? Brominated vegetable
oil is patented as a flame retardant and it's banned in food all
over Europe and Japan, but it's on the ingredient list of about
10 percent of sodas in the U.S. It's not in Coca-Cola, but is in
Mountain Dew, Fanta Orange, and in some flavors of Powerade and
Gatorade. What brominated vegetable oil (BVO) does to soda is,
Coca-Cola explains, "prevent the citrus flavoring oils from
floating to the surface in beverages." The fruit flavors that
are mixed into a drink would otherwise settle out. What BVO does
when it's acting as a flame retardant is not much different: It
slows down the chemical reactions that cause a fire. Safe For
Consumption? The FDA established safety limits for the substance
in the 1970s, but Environmental Health News reports about
growing concerns that the limit was informed by reports put out
by an industry group containing outdated and, as industry-
generated information tends to be, less-than-comprehensive data.
After a few ext