Which does the Food Industry value more: your health or its profits?
Beyond BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil) In Food Products | Fooducate
[Brominated Vegetable Oil] was an ingredient that raised red flags back in the 70s and was only allowed to stay on the market pending further studies, which weren’t done. Those original studies from the 70s showed that bromine builds up in fatty tissues and that rats ingesting large quantities of BVO developed heart lesions. So a compelling case could be made for why BVO should have, at some point, been unceremonious yanked from the food supply.
It’s not the only suspicious ingredient. There are other additives with dodgy safety records and that are still being used in popular foods. The preservative BHA (short for butylated hydroxyanisole) is the best (or worst) example. It is considered a “probable carcinogen” by the Health and Human Services Department and yet found in DiGiorno pizza, McDonald’s breakfast sausages and steak, and some varieties of Tang and Kool-Aid.
A “probable carcinogen” in Tang and Kool-Aid. Good thing those aren’t kids’ drinks.
There’s also the related BHT, which is more widely used and thought to be safer but was flagged for further study in the last systematic review the FDA did of food additives, which ended in 1980. Azodicarbonamide, a manufacturing aide in Subway’s and Sara Lee’s bread, among others, was found in recent tests to break down into the carcinogen semicarbazide when heated. The fat preservative TBHQ has been linked to convulsions, liver enlargement and precursors to stomach tumors in animals.
I mention all this not to scare anyone, but to point out how murky and broken the system of food additive regulation has become. There are no less than 5,000 substances that can be added directly to food (another 3,750 chemicals are used in manufacturing and they may or may not migrate into your lunch), yet there is no database or central place where you can find a list of them.
Beyond BVO (Brominated Vegetable Oil) In Food Products | Fooducate