Gatorade To Remove Controversial Ingredient

Gatorade To Remove Controversial Ingredient

A petition started by teenager Sarah Kavanagh for the removal of brominated vegetable oil, an ingredient found in some Gatorade drinks was taken quite seriously by the PepsiCo Company.

The petition got media attention pretty fast and even an article in the Chicago Tribune, however, the representatives of the PepsiCo Company said that an ingredient to replace the brominated vegetable oil was in the works for months.

The brominated vegetable oil is illegal in the European Union and Japan but is absolutely free to use in North and South America.The Food and Drug Administration last reviewed the chemical sometimes in the 1970’s and ordered more testing, testing that was never done.

Sarah Kavanagh said in her petition that the citrus flavored Gatorade shared an ingredient with flame retardants, respectively bromine.

The teenager was apparently surprised with the outcome of her petition even if she knew it would get attention because “no one wants to gulp down flame retardant” but she didn't expect to make so much progress so fast as Gatorade is a big brand.

Molly Carter, Gatorade representative said that the controversial ingredient will be replaced with sucrose acetate isobutyrate, an ingredient they have tested thoroughly and that doesn't change the taste or formula of the citrus flavored Gatorade.

Posted by George Daniels on Monday January 28 2013, 1:57 AM EDT. Ref: Chicago Tribune. Link. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0