Discussion Why is BVO still allowed in soda and sports drinks?

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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From reading this article from WebMD:
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20130129/brominated-vegetable-oil-qa#1
As some of you know, I have made many attempts to quit drinking diet soda altogether, and while I'll go without consuming any for a period, I always go back to drinking them. Many times drinking way more then before I quit.

This year I went cold turkey two weeks straight, but only two weeks. I'm basically drinking as this guy did in:
In very high amounts drunk over a long period of time, BVO can build up in the body and cause toxic effects.

In 1997, doctors were stumped by the case of a man who came to the emergency room with headaches, fatigue, and a loss of muscle coordination and memory. He continued to get worse over time, and eventually he lost the ability to walk. A blood test found sky-high levels of bromide. The source? The man had been drinking between 2 and 4 liters of soda containing brominated vegetable oil every day. He needed dialysis but eventually recovered.
Yes I'm consuming 4 litters or more a day, and lately I have been feeling nauseous at night. Is this finally catching up to me? My mother died of kidney failure.

Other countries have ban BVO in drinks, so why hasn't the US followed suit? I also just checked the bottle, Pepsi still includes BVO in diet MT Dew.

I and starting to think that the FDA should be farr more proactive on relating what food companies can and can not put in our food. I keep trying but I'm having a rather difficult time with my excess consumption.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
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4 liters a day is an addiction. Soda, any soda, is not good for you, especially in large quantities.
 
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nOOky

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Aug 17, 2004
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I quit soda 9-11-18 so about 6 months ago. I assumed I'd feel better after a while. I mainly drank diet Dew which was horrible for you according to soda studies. I don't feel any different at all really. I also don't know why the U.S. allows BVO or some of the artificial sweeteners such as saccharine, but it can be hard to quit the stuff.

At the amount your drinking I'd quit immediately, you'll get over it after 3 weeks or so. I stick to coffee in the morning, and if I have to have flavor I drink a True lemon in the afternoon, but no caffeine after 9:00 a.m.
 
Dec 10, 2005
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Toxicology 101: the dose makes the poison. Anything in high quantities can be deadly. 2-4L of soda per day over a long period of time coupled with other health problems and you probably have a good recipe for disaster.
 

whm1974

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Toxicology 101: the dose makes the poison. Anything in high quantities can be deadly. 2-4L of soda per day over a long period of time coupled with other health problems and you probably have a good recipe for disaster.
That is what I'm afraid of. I'm diabetic and have high pressure, on to of that I also suffer from Major Depression Disorder as well. I'm going to have to join a support group or help create one.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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Heh, this goes back to a thread I made in ATOT called "What is your addiction?" with a poll of choices.

I honestly theorize that everyone has some type of addiction - be it sex, caffeine, soda/sugar/candy, legal drugs, illegal drugs, ciggs, alcohol, blah blah blah.
 

whm1974

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Jul 24, 2016
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Heh, this goes back to a thread I made in ATOT called "What is your addiction?" with a poll of choices.

I honestly theorize that everyone has some type of addiction - be it sex, caffeine, soda/sugar/candy, legal drugs, illegal drugs, ciggs, alcohol, blah blah blah.
Yeah but some addictions are worse then others. I'm just glad I'm not addicted to illegal drugs. I used to know people who were and I would not wish that on my worst enemy.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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That's quite a bit of soda, diet or not. Switch to water at least half of your intake. Go from there. Cold turkey , as youve seen, can be harder and more elastic than weening yourself off.
 

whm1974

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That's quite a bit of soda, diet or not. Switch to water at least half of your intake. Go from there. Cold turkey , as youve seen, can be harder and more elastic than weening yourself off.
Oh I can quit cold turkey if I stick with it, I just can't drink soda in moderation at all.
 
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whm1974

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WRONG FORUM….
Is it? BVO along with other chemicals that are allowed in the US for drink are banned in several other developed countries. It is commonly used as a flame retardant.

On top of that, soda is very addicting which has it's own set of problems.
 

ch33zw1z

Lifer
Nov 4, 2004
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Oh I can quit cold turkey if I stick with it, I just can't drink soda in moderation at all.

Yeah I do the same with junk food too. Not going into details, I just refrain altogether. Going on ~10 months without junk food. No chocolate, sweets, soda, I feel much more energetic and better overall.

The best thing for people concerned about BVO to do is stop ingesting it and telling people why when the subject comes up.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
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Heh, this goes back to a thread I made in ATOT called "What is your addiction?" with a poll of choices.

I honestly theorize that everyone has some type of addiction - be it sex, caffeine, soda/sugar/candy, legal drugs, illegal drugs, ciggs, alcohol, blah blah blah.
I'm addicted to all those things, except for caffeine. For some reason it never really affected me much. Unlike cigarettes. Haven't had one in 18 years but I'm still psychologically addicted to them.
 

repoman0

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Jun 17, 2010
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Heh, this goes back to a thread I made in ATOT called "What is your addiction?" with a poll of choices.

I honestly theorize that everyone has some type of addiction - be it sex, caffeine, soda/sugar/candy, legal drugs, illegal drugs, ciggs, alcohol, blah blah blah.

Add internet to that list, probably the most common one.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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Also OP - have you tried other alternative diet sodas? Honestly I don't even know the history of what BVO is and that it is in diet sodas. Is it in all of them?

I remember Coke came out with a Diet Coke w/ Splenda - which obviously gets away from the aspartame debate.

I worked with a 50+ year old guy on a consulting project I had for a while. The dude would come in... every single day... with a 8-pack of diet cokes in a little mini-cooler. By the end of the day, they would usually be empty - and I'm sure he has more in the morning / after work as well.

It actually used to be cokes - then he became a diabetic and had to switch in his mid-age. Sucks to be that addicted =/

I enjoy a diet monster drink occasionally, but I'm overall off the craze and switched to tea/water.
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
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Also OP - have you tried other alternative diet sodas? Honestly I don't even know the history of what BVO is and that it is in diet sodas. Is it in all of them?

I remember Coke came out with a Diet Coke w/ Splenda - which obviously gets away from the aspartame debate.

I worked with a 50+ year old guy on a consulting project I had for a while. The dude would come in... every single day... with a 6-pack of diet cokes. By the end of the day, they would be empty - and I'm sure he has more in the morning / after work as well.

It actually used to be cokes - then he became a diabetic and had to switch in his mid-age. Sucks to be that addicted =/

I enjoy a diet monster drink occasionally, but I'm overall off the craze and switched to tea/water.
I can drink tea just fine instead if I have it available and sometimes coffee every now and then.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
35,203
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Also OP - have you tried other alternative diet sodas? Honestly I don't even know the history of what BVO is and that it is in diet sodas. Is it in all of them?

I remember Coke came out with a Diet Coke w/ Splenda - which obviously gets away from the aspartame debate.

I worked with a 50+ year old guy on a consulting project I had for a while. The dude would come in... every single day... with a 6-pack of diet cokes. By the end of the day, they would be empty - and I'm sure he has more in the morning / after work as well.

It actually used to be cokes - then he became a diabetic and had to switch in his mid-age. Sucks to be that addicted =/

I enjoy a diet monster drink occasionally, but I'm overall off the craze and switched to tea/water.
I used to work with a guy that would pick me up on the way to work at 5am and he would have already put a decent dent in his first 2-liter at that point. Brought 2 or 3 to work every day and killed them by the time we started pounding beers on the way home. Drank that shit warm, too. His grandmother or something taught him to always drink it warm... I still cringe at that part.
 
Nov 8, 2012
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I used to work with a guy that would pick me up on the way to work at 5am and he would have already put a decent dent in his first 2-liter at that point. Brought 2 or 3 to work every day and killed them by the time we started pounding beers on the way home. Drank that shit warm, too. His grandmother or something taught him to always drink it warm... I still cringe at that part.

How do you... piss that much in life? Or when you drink that much does your body find a way not to make you piss at much? That's just nuts...

3-4 2-liter bottles + beers afterwards + probably some water in the day... I Would be pissing every 15 minutes.
 

whm1974

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How do you... piss that much in life? Or when you drink that much does your body find a way not to make you piss at much? That's just nuts...

3-4 2-liter bottles + beers afterwards + probably some water in the day... I Would be pissing every 15 minutes.
It sure seems that I piss that much.
 

tweaker2

Lifer
Aug 5, 2000
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Was addicted to cigs (2pk/day), coffee (5 cups/day) and soda (3 cans/day). Quit cigs over 25 yrs ago, quit coffee or any kind of caffeinated drinks over 15 years ago, quit soda about the same. I only drink reverse osmosis treated water or charcoal filtered water, no exceptions. (Well, seawater also but only when it doesn't flush out of my snorkel when I think it did and then *choke *choke *cough *gag *barf).

How did I kick those nasty habits? Every time I consumed them, I imagined myself getting sick and nauseated from putting that vile life shortening/life threatening junk in my body until I didn't want to feel sick and nauseated any more. Same goes with the kinds of food I eat.

The goal being enjoying good health right up to the day my body says "times up fella!" and I go to meet my maker.
 

local

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2011
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I quit 99% of my soda intake 6 years ago. Used to drink 6 of more Dr. Peppers, cans not liters, a day. Eventually I started feeling bloated and overall crappy after drinking them. Once I decided that was the source I just quit, felt better and had fewer issues almost immediately. Now if I am eating fast food I get about half a cup of Sprite and may drink half of it. My biggest problem now is that I am usually somewhat dehydrated due to not drinking enough.
 

dank69

Lifer
Oct 6, 2009
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How do you... piss that much in life? Or when you drink that much does your body find a way not to make you piss at much? That's just nuts...

3-4 2-liter bottles + beers afterwards + probably some water in the day... I Would be pissing every 15 minutes.
No water. That's the sickest part. Dude hated water. He did piss a lot though. Probably glow-in-the-dark piss.
 

whm1974

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Jul 24, 2016
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As I recall they wasn't any soda machines when I was in primary and JR High school. But when I went to HS there were.

Are vending machines common in the lower grades now?