Washington, May 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, the two major beverage giants in the United States, announced on the 5th that all of its beverages will give up the use of a controversial chemical ingredient - brominated vegetable oil.
Brominated vegetable oil is an additive used in fruity beverages such as Gatorade and Fanta, which acts as a stabilizer, and its use is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But in recent years, some consumers, led by Sarah Kavana, a 17-year-old girl in Mississippi, have launched a joint protest online to stop adding brominated vegetable oil to beverages, citing the fact that brominated vegetable oil is a flame retardant that has been banned in some areas in Europe and Japan.
Coca-Cola issued a statement on the same day that the brominated vegetable oil in all its related beverages will be replaced with sucrose acetate isobutyrate or rosin glycerides, which have been used in beverages for more than 14 years, and rosin glycerides are common ingredients in chewing gum and beverages. The U.S. market will complete the transition by the end of 2014, the statement said.
Previously, Coca-Cola had refused to respond whether to abandon brominated vegetable oils. The statement of the day also stressed that all of Coca-Cola's beverages, including those containing brominated vegetable oils, are safe and comply with the regulations of all relevant countries.
PepsiCo announced last year that its beverage, Gatorade, was discontinuing brominated vegetable oils. On the 5th, following the statement issued by The Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo announced that its Fluxus and Amp Vitality Drinks will also stop using this additive.
PepsiCo said in a statement that the company regularly evaluates the formula and ingredients of the beverage to ensure compliance with all relevant regulations.