Month: December 2012

An online petition drive is seeking removal of an ingredient in Gatorade because of health concerns. So far, nearly 200,000 people have signed. The additive is brominated vegetable oil. It’s banned by the European Union and Japan. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) removed it from a list of ingredients “generally recognized as safe.” That happened in 1970, after an industry group revoked its approval. The FDA set a limit of 15 parts per million. However, it has never banned brominated oil. Bromine is also found in flame retardants. Animal studies have linked flame retardants to nerve and fertility problems, among other things. About 10% of U.S. soft drinks contain brominated oil. It helps to keep flavorings blended. Animal studies have been mostly short-term. They suggest that bromine may build up in fatty tissues.

Two cups of milk a day are enough for most kids, researchers say based on a new study. That gives children enough vitamin D from the milk, the study found. But it avoids reducing their supply of iron, as larger amounts of milk can do. The study included more than 1,300 healthy children. Parents reported how much milk the children drank. Researchers measured their levels of vitamin D and iron. Children who drank more than 2 cups of milk daily had lower levels of iron than those who drank 2 cups. But those who drank 2 cups a day had enough vitamin D and iron. The exception was children with darker skins. In the winter, they needed to drink 3 to 4 cups of milk to get enough vitamin D. The journal Pediatrics published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it December 17.