Brominated Vegetable Oil
Brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is plant oil chemically modified with bromine. It was used in some fruit-flavored drinks to keep flavor oils evenly suspended. BVO is a mixture of modified fats, distinct from ordinary cooking oil, bromide salts and bromate flour treatments.
Also known as
BVO · brominated vegetable oil · brominated vegetable oils · brominated soybean oil · brominated corn oil · brominated cottonseed oil · INS 443
Why PRūF tracks it
Repeated BVO exposure produced thyroid effects and tissue accumulation in animal studies, while human case reports involve extreme beverage intake and do not establish the risk from an ordinary serving.
Read the research
The United States and Canada removed BVO’s food authorization after reassessing its safety. The US rule took effect in August 2024, with compliance due August 2025; Canada’s transition also ended in August 2025. Earlier permission was limited to small amounts in particular flavored beverages. In a 90-day rat study, BVO-related brominated fats accumulated in several tissues, and higher doses produced thyroid-cell and hormone changes.
FDA considered the wider pattern of findings and persistence sufficient to conclude that a safe dietary intake could not be established. Earlier animal studies also found organ and developmental effects, usually at much higher doses. Human evidence is sparse: case reports describe bromine-related illness after consumption of several liters of BVO-containing soft drinks daily, which cannot establish the risk from an ordinary serving. Health Canada identified no immediate health concern at the previously permitted use, while concluding that continued authorization was unsupported.
These findings support concern about repeated exposure without proving that every past exposure caused disease.
Research reviewed on September 5, 2026 · 12 sources
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The published research used in the PRūF app.
- Revocation of authorization for use of brominated vegetable oil in food,89FR55040
US FDA · 2024-07-03 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Brominated vegetable oil
US FDA · Current2026-09-05 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Removal of BVO from List of Permitted Food Additives with Other Accepted Uses
Health Canada · 2024-08-30 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- BVO as food additive: updated safety assessment summary
Health Canada · 2024-05-21 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Toxicological evaluation of BVO in Sprague Dawley rats
Primary study authors · 2022-05-16 online; July issue · Accessed 2026-09-05
- JECFA evaluation: brominated vegetable oils
FAO / WHO JECFA · 1970 evaluation · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Toxicity of brominated sesame and soybean oils in miniature swine
Primary study authors · 1976-03 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Behavioral and reproductive effects of chronic developmental BVO exposure in rats
Primary study authors · 1983-12 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Fate of brominated soya oil in the animal body
Primary study authors · 1978-09 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Bromism from excessive cola consumption
Primary study authors · 1997 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Bromoderma after excessive ingestion of Ruby Red Squirt
Primary study authors · 2003-05-08 · Accessed 2026-09-05
- Simple and rapid quantification of BVO in commercial soft drinks by LC-MS
Primary study authors · 2016-07-02 · Accessed 2026-09-05
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