Pepsi has joined Coca-Cola in saying it's working to remove a controversial ingredient from all its drinks, including Mountain Dew, according to the Associated Press.
After the Coca-Cola announced last year that it was removing Brominated vegetable oil from Gatorade, it is dropping the ingredient from all its drinks, including Powerade, the AP reported.
Brominated vegetable oil was the target of petitions by a Mississippi teenager who wanted it out of Gatorade and Powerade, according to the AP. The petition noted that the ingredient has been patented as a flame retardant and isn't approved for use in Japan and the European Union.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi have stood by the safety of the ingredient, which is used to distribute flavors more evenly in fruit-flavored drinks, but their decisions reflect the pressure companies are facing as over the ingredients they use, the AP reported.
The change will apply to its drinks globally, meaning Canada and Latin America are phasing out the ingredient as well, according to the AP. A spokesman for Coca-Cola, Josh Gold, noted that the ingredient is not used in many countries.
The Associated Press reported on Sunday that Coca-Cola is dropping BVO from Powerade, following a similar move by PepsiCo's Gatorade last year. Coca-Cola noted that BVO is used to improve the stability of its drinks and prevent certain ingredients from separating.
Coca-Cola said it would phase out BVO in the U.S. by the end of the year to be consistent with the ingredients it uses around the world, according to the AP. It said it would instead use sucrose acetate isobutyrate, which Coca-Cola said has been used in drinks for more than 14 years, and glycerol ester of rosin, which it said is commonly found in chewing gum and drinks.
