Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is vegetable oil that has had atoms of the element bromine bonded to it. Brominated vegetable oil is used as an emulsifier in citrus-flavored soft drinks such as Mountain Dew, Gatorade, Sun Drop, Squirt and Fresca to help natural fat-soluble citrus flavors stay suspended in the drink and to produce a cloudy appearance. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with cooking oil. ... The periodic table of the chemical elements A chemical element, or element for short, is a type of atom that is defined by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its nucleus. ... General Name, Symbol, Number bromine, Br, 35 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 4, p Appearance gas/liquid: red-brown solid: metallic luster Atomic mass 79. ... An emulsion is a mixture of two immiscible substances. ... Species & major hybrids Species Citrus aurantifolia - Key lime Citrus maxima - Pomelo Citrus medica - Citron Citrus reticulata - Mandarin & Tangerine Major hybrids Citrus ×sinensis - Sweet Orange Citrus ×aurantium - Bitter Orange Citrus ×paradisi - Grapefruit Citrus ×limon - Lemon Citrus ×limonia - Rangpur lime Citrus ×latifolia - Persian lime See also main text for other hybrids Citrus... A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ... Mountain Dew is a caffeinated, sweet, citrus-flavored soft drink produced by PepsiCo, Inc. ... Gatorade is a non-carbonated sports drink marketed by the Quaker Oats Company, a division of PepsiCo. ... Sun Drop is a carbonated citrus beverage made by the Dr. Pepper company. ... Fresca is a brand of citrus soft drink made by The Coca-Cola Company. ...

The addition of bromine increases the density of the oil, and the amount of bromine is carefully controlled to achieve a density that is the same as the water in the drink. As a result, the BVO remains suspended in the water instead of forming separate layers. In physics, density is mass m per unit volume V. For the common case of a homogeneous substance, it is expressed as: where, in SI units: ρ (rho) is the density of the substance, measured in kg·m-3 m is the mass of the substance, measured in kg V is... Impact from a water drop causes an upward rebound jet surrounded by circular capillary waves. ...

Long after human consumption of BVO, traces remain in the body fat.^{[citation needed]} Bromine is a halogen and displaces iodine, which may depress thyroid function. Evidence for this has been extrapolated from pre-1975 cases where bromine-containing sedatives resulted in emergency room visits [1] and incorrect diagnoses of psychosis and brain damage due to side effects such as depression, memory loss, hallucinations, violent tendencies, seizures, cerebral atrophy, acute irritability, tremors, ataxia, confusion, loss of peripheral vision, slurred speech, stupor, tendon reflex changes, photophobia due to enlarged pupils, and extensor plantar responses. [2] In one case, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine on 8 May 2003, a man who drank eight liters of Ruby Red Squirt daily had a reaction that caused his skin color to turn red and produced lesions diagnosed as bromoderma. The excessive quantities together with the fact that the man had a higher than normal sensitivity to bromine, made this an unusual case*^[1]. A similar case reported that a man consumed two to four liters of a cola containing BVO on a daily basis experienced memory loss, tremors, fatigue, loss of muscle coordination, headache, ptosis of the right eyelid as well as elevated serum chloride^[2]. In the two months it took to correctly diagnose the problem the patient also lost the ability to walk. Luckily bromism was finally diagnosed and hemodialysis was prescribed which resulted in a reversal of the disorder. [3] A Pepsi product website notes that BVO has been used by the soft drink industry since 1931. If the input of a toxic substance to an organism is greater than the rate at which the substance is lost, the organism is said to be bioaccumulating that substance. ... In biochemistry, fat is a generic term for a class of lipids. ... The halogens or halogen elements are a series of nonmetal elements from Group 17 (old-style: VII or VIIA; Group 7 IUPAC Style) of the periodic table, comprising fluorine, F, chlorine, Cl, bromine, Br, iodine, I, and astatine, At. ... General Name, Symbol, Number iodine, I, 53 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 5, p Appearance violet-dark gray, lustrous Standard atomic weight 126. ... Psychosis is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a loss of contact with reality. Stedmans Medical Dictionary defines psychosis as a severe mental disorder, with or without organic damage, characterized by derangement of personality and loss of contact with reality and causing deterioration... Brain damage or brain injury is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. ... “Sad” redirects here. ... A hallucination is a false sensory perception in the absence of an external stimulus, as distinct from an illusion, which is a misperception of an external stimulus. ... This article is about the medical condition. ... Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. ... For other uses, see Ataxia (disambiguation). ... The New England Journal of Medicine (New Engl J Med or NEJM) is a peer-reviewed medical journal published by the Massachusetts Medical Society. ... is the 128th day of the year (129th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 2003 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Binomial name Macfad. ... Squirt logo Squirt is a caffeine-free citrus-flavored soft drink created in 1938 by Herb Bishop. ... Skin lesions caused by Chickenpox A lesion is any abnormal tissue found on or in an organism, usually damaged by disease or trauma. ... Bromoderma, also known as bromoderma tuberosum, is a dermatological condition characterized by an eruption of papules and pustules on the skin. ... General Name, Symbol, Number bromine, Br, 35 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 4, p Appearance gas/liquid: red-brown solid: metallic luster Atomic mass 79. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In test animals, BVO consumption has caused damage to the heart and kidneys in addition to to increasing fat deposits in these organs. In extreme cases BVO has caused testicular damage, stunted growth and produced lethargy and fatigue. [4]

Restrictions

Standards for soft drinks in India prohibit the use of BVO. A soft drink is a drink that contains no alcohol. ...

Title 21 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Sec. 180.30 (21CFR180.30) imposes the following restrictions on the use of BVO as a food additive in the United States (from fda.gov): The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations (sometimes called administrative law) published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the Federal Government of the United States. ... Food additives are substances added to food to preserve flavor or improve its taste and appearance. ...

(a) The additive complies with specifications prescribed in the "Food Chemicals Codex," 3d Ed. (1981), pp. 40-41, which is incorporated by reference, except that free fatty acids (as oleic) shall not exceed 2.5 percent and iodine value shall not exceed 16. Copies of the material incorporated by reference may be obtained from the National Academy Press, 2101 Constitution Ave. NW., Washington, DC 20418, or may be examined at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). For information on the availability of this material at NARA, call 202-741-6030, or go to: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/code_of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html.

(b) The additive is used on an interim basis as a stabilizer for flavoring oils used in fruit-flavored beverages, for which any applicable standards of identity do not preclude such use, in an amount not to exceed 15 parts per million in the finished beverage, pending the outcome of additional toxicological studies on which periodic reports at 6-month intervals are to be furnished and final results submitted to the Food and Drug Administration promptly after completion of the studies.

[42 FR 14636, Mar. 15, 1977, as amended at 49 FR 5610, Feb. 14, 1984]

BVO is one of four substances that the Food and Drug Administration has defined as interim food additives; the other three are acrylonitrile copolymers, mannitol, and saccharin. hi “FDA” redirects here. ... Acrylonitrile (CH2=CH-C≡N), is a pungent smelling, extremely flammable organic liquid. ... A heteropolymer, also called a copolymer, is a polymer formed when two different types of monomer are linked in the same polymer chain. ... Mannitol or hexan-1,2,3,4,5,6-hexol (C6H8(OH)6) is an osmotic diuretic agent and a weak renal vasodilator. ... The skeletal formula of saccharin Saccharin[1] is the oldest artificial sweetener; it was discovered in 1879 by Ira Remsen and Constantin Fahlberg of Johns Hopkins University. ...

See also

• Glycerol ester of wood rosin

Ester gum or glycerol ester of wood rosin is a food additive used as a stabilizer to keep oils in suspension in water. ...

References

1. ^ Jih DM, Khanna V, Somach SC. "Bromoderma after excessive ingestion of Ruby Red Squirt". NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 348 (19): 1932-1934. PMID 12736294. 
2. ^ Horowitz BZ (1997). "Bromism from excessive cola consumption". JOURNAL OF TOXICOLOGY. CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY. 35 (3): 315-320. PMID 9140329. 

External links

• WHO/Food and Agriculture Organization 1970 report
• Love of soda leaves its mark, from a University of Minnesota website
• Campaign for BVO Prohibition in India
• Reduced reproductive capacity