Recently, you may have heard, seen or read some media coverage of the ingredient brominated vegetable oil.  We know, it’s a lot to say – you can call it BVO for short. While some are reporting it is a flame retardant (side note:  even water is a flame retardant if you use it to put out a fire) and unsafe for use in foods and beverages, we wanted to share the facts.

First  -what is BVO?  Much more simple than some would like you to believe.  BVO is an emulsifier. In its most basic terms, that means it allows two fluids which usually don’t get along (think oil and vinegar) to form a mixture.  In the case of beverages, BVO is used in some fruit-flavored beverages to improve the stability of the beverage by preventing some ingredients from separating.

Second  - is it safe for human consumption?  Yes.  Just this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reaffirmed the safety of BVO and confirmed that the Agency is not conducting or planning any studies into the ingredient at this time.

So, as a consumer, what do you need to know?  That you can rest assured that our products are safe and our industry adheres to all government regulations. So … we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: don’t believe the hype!