U.S. Bans the Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil in Food

On July 2, 2024, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a regulation¹ to revoke the authorization for using brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in food. 

Previously, BVO was regulated as a food additive in the U.S. It was permitted to be used in small amounts of less than 15 parts per million as a stabilizer for fruit flavoring in beverages to keep the citrus flavoring from floating to the top. Enterprises using BVO are required to list this ingredient on the label. 

However, following the studies² conducted in collaboration with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the use of BVO in food is no longer considered safe. FDA issued a proposed rule³ to revoke the regulation allowing the use of BVO in food on November 2, 2023.

Later, on July 3, 2024, the FDA finalized Revocation of Authorization for Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil in Food¹, which is effective on August 2, 2024. The compliance date for this rule is one year after the effective date, to provide the opportunity for companies to reformulate, relabel, and deplete the inventory of BVO-containing products before the FDA begins enforcing the final rule.