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Flame Retardant in My Coke?
We all know that there is an enormous amount of sugar in sodas, but did you know that there is brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in over 10% of all soda’s sold in America?
Do you know what this chemical is? It’s a flame retardant for plastics. ‘Brominated’ means it’s been treated or bonded with bromine – “A nonmetallic heavy volatile corrosive dark brown liquid element belonging to the halogens; found in sea water.” My understanding is that they use this stuff to suspend the fruit flavoring in the drink, and that’s why it looks ‘cloudy’.
Eww. Double eww! We’ve been drinking this stuff for decades and it’s approved by the FDA? Apparently so. BVO’s are banned in over 100 countries, but not in the good ‘ole USA. You won’t find this garbage in Europe.
I’ve always known that soda’s were not exactly good for you, but seriously, I had no idea until I ran across this article from Environmental Health News. One almost gets the idea that someone is trying to make money even if it means shortening our lives, doesn’t it? Uh-huh.
Now just so no one will be confused by the title of this post, I was born and raised – and still live – in the South (by the grace of God!). And when I was growing up, everything some folks call a soda, we called ‘a coke.’ The only question was what kind of a coke you wanted.
Anyway, manufacturers of citrus-flavored cokes have been putting this stuff in our cold refreshments for a long time, and personally, I’m not keen on the idea of drinking another one. Drinks that contain this stuff include (but certainly not limited to):
- Mountain Dew
- Squirt
- Fanta Orange, Pineapple
- Sunkist Pineapple
- Gatorade Thirst Quencher Orange
- Powerade Strawberry, Lemonade
- Fresca Original Citrus
- Orange Crush
- Sundrop
Fresca!? Really? Orange Crush!!!? Aww. Not my beloved Orange Crush! That hurt. And it’s not just soft drinks that contain this oil, BVO’s are also reportedly found in some bakery products and brands of pasta.
The FDA says products that include brominated vegetable oil must declare it in the list of ingredients. Check labels! Read the article linked to above. Do some research on the health consequences of putting flame retardant in your body before buying any more products that contain BVO.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brominated_vegetable_oil
http://www.sandiegoreader.com/news/1999/jul/29/what-brominated-vegetable-oil-and-why-do-soda-comp/
http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/348/19/1932
5 Pt. Salt 
There are some scary things out there in our so-called “food”. Several members of our family have severe food allergies (to include soy, corn, dairy, and just about all meats except for chicken), making my wife somewhat of an expert, through necessity, on food. What is out there is not pretty, and very little of it is close to “natural”.
I say drink a six pack of the stuff, go to your local charismatic church, and let ‘er rip.
If drinking sludge bothers you, don’t read last year’s book “Wheat Belly” lest you be scared away from anything with WHEAT in it.
I stopped eating most bread products last October and the impact on my health has been incredible. I won’t go into detail, but I really believe the product they now sell as wheat was killing my family!
Description from Amazon:
“A renowned cardiologist explains how eliminating wheat from our diets can prevent fat storage, shrink unsightly bulges, and reverse myriad health problems.
“Every day, over 200 million Americans consume food products made of wheat. As a result, over 100 million of them experience some form of adverse health effect, ranging from minor rashes and high blood sugar to the unattractive stomach bulges that preventive cardiologist William Davis calls “wheat bellies.” According to Davis, that excess fat has nothing to do with gluttony, sloth, or too much butter: It’s due to the whole grain wraps we eat for lunch.
“After witnessing over 2,000 patients regain their health after giving up wheat, Davis reached the disturbing conclusion that wheat is the single largest contributor to the nationwide obesity epidemic—and its elimination is key to dramatic weight loss and optimal health. In Wheat Belly, Davis exposes the harmful effects of what is actually a product of genetic tinkering and agribusiness being sold to the American public as “wheat”—and provides readers with a user-friendly, step-by-step plan to navigate a new, wheat-free lifestyle.
Informed by cutting-edge science and nutrition, along with case studies from men and women who have experienced life-changing transformations in their health after waving goodbye to wheat, WheatBelly is an illuminating look at what is truly making Americans sick and an action plan to clear our plates of this seemingly benign ingredient.
All the more reason to drink even more 100% unadulterated coffee, science has proven [and so have I] that 5 cups before breakfast gives all the zip and zing that one requires for the day, without the need for BVO.