PepsiCo announced Friday it will remove a controversial ingredient from its Gatorade sports drinks after consumers raised concerns about health risks.
The ingredient, brominated vegetable oil, or BVO, is used in orange and 'citrus cooler' Gatorade as an emulsifier, "meaning it distributes flavoring evenly so that it doesn't collect at the surface," the Associated Press reported.
BVO is also patented as a flame retardant, and is banned as a food additive in Japan and the European Union (but is not banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration).
According to a website called What's That Ingredient?, BVO is a blend of ordinary vegetable oil and the element bromine, which reportedly has several potential health side effects, including "depression, memory loss, hallucinations, violent tendencies, seizures, cerebral atrophy," among other risks.
A Mississippi teenager created a Change.org petition asking PepsiCo to drop BVO from its Gatorade beverages, and as of Friday, her petition had over 200,000 supporters, according to the AP. The teen, Sarah Kavanagh, said she's "very, very happy" about the decision, and that she will probably return to drinking Gatorade.
Molly Carter, a spokewoman for PepsiCo, said the decision to remove the ingredient was not influenced by the petition.
Gatorade may soon be BVO-free, but the ingredient is not gone for good. Several other beverages list the flame retardant as an ingredient, reported the AP, including Coca-Cola's Fanta, PepsiCo's Mountain Dew, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group's Sun Drop and Squirt drinks.