BVO (E443): What the Sources Found

Brominated vegetable oil (BVO) is the emulsifier the food industry lists as E443. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 of the 33 additive points off a product's score for a child.

In short

High risk. 30 of the 33 additive points come off a product that carries it.
No child flag. Nothing below is written about children specifically, so the class is the same at every age.
3 citations from FDA, Law, each one below.

What BVO does to a score

A packaged food starts with 33 points for what is in its ingredient list. BVO takes 30 of the 33 additive points off a product's score. Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.

What the sources found

Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. They are quoted as the source wrote them.

FDA 89 FR 55040, 'Revocation of Authorization for Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil in Food', FR doc 2024-14300 (published 3 July 2024)
FDA revoked the food additive regulation authorising BVO to stabilise flavouring oils in fruit-flavoured beverages; effective 2 August 2024, compliance date one year later. FDA concluded the intended use of BVO in food 'is no longer considered safe' after FDA/NIH studies found the potential for adverse health effects in humans.
FDA constituent update, 'FDA Revokes Regulation Allowing the Use of Brominated Vegetable Oil (BVO) in Food'
Agency announcement confirming the revocation, its rationale and the reformulation window given to industry.
Law California AB 418 (California Food Safety Act, 2023), adding Chapter 17 (commencing with §109025) to Part 3, Division 104, Health & Safety Code
Prohibits manufacture, sale, delivery, distribution or holding for sale of food containing brominated vegetable oil (with Red 3, potassium bromate and propylparaben) in California from 1 January 2027; civil penalties up to $5,000 first violation / $10,000 subsequent.

Why this class

IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.

Our confidence in this row's classification is high. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.