Gatorade Ingredient “Brominated Vegetable Oil” To Be Removed

Gatorade seemed to have listened to the petition and decided to remove the controversial Gatorade ingredient called brominated vegetable oil, which according to the petition is a flame retardant chemical. The petition posted online gathered 206,644 supporters.

However, Molly Carter, a spokeswoman for Gatorade owner PepsiCo Inc., said on Friday that the decision of the company to remove the BVO was not influenced by the petition at all, as they have been considering the move for more than a year. She acknowledged, though, that consumer feedback was the main impetus.

The new reformulated Gatorade flavors “will start rolling out in the next few months,” Carter said via LA Times.

Update: The Gatorade website still listed BVO (Brominated vegetable oil) as an ingredient in Gatorade, and defined it as:

“Brominated vegetable oil, also known as BVO, is widely used by beverage makers to help keep flavoring oils well-blended. Since oil does not mix well with water, emulsifiers help dissolve and keep the flavor oils evenly distributed throughout the beverage. BVO, or brominated vegetable oil, is used in very low levels in the production of select flavors of Gatorade (all ingredients are listed in descending order by weight).”