Flame Retardant Drinks: Mountain Dew and other drinks in the U.S. contain the synthetic chemical brominated vegetable oil (BVO), originally patented as a flame retardant. “The FDA has flip-flopped on BVO’s safety, originally classifying it as ‘generally recognized as safe,’ but reversing that call, now defining it as an ‘interim food additive,’ a category reserved for possibly questionable substances used in food.” It is currently banned in Europe and Japan
