Brominated vegetable oils
Brominated oils · Brominated vegetable oilsBrominated vegetable oil is vegetable oil with bromine added across its double bonds, which makes it dense enough to keep citrus flavour oils suspended in a soft drink instead of floating to the top. JECFA calls that function a cloud-producing agent.
Where it is and isn’t permitted
| Jurisdiction | Status | Scope and limits | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia and New Zealand | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Canada | No listing matchedHealth Canada’s lists name additives without E or INS numbers, so this site matches them by exact name. A substance listed there under a name this site does not recognise has no row here. | ||
| European Union | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Great Britain | No listed food uses foundThis site has not matched this substance to any food use on this jurisdiction’s list of authorised food additives. A food additive may be used only in foods that list names. Flavourings, enzymes, processing aids and added nutrients are regulated separately and do not appear on it. | ||
| Japan | No listing matchedThis site imports only Japan’s list of designated additives (Appended Table 1 to the Regulations for Enforcement of the Food Sanitation Act), matched by English name. Existing additives, natural flavouring agents and ordinary foods used as additives are permitted outside that list and are not imported, so an empty row does not show that Japan does not permit the substance. | ||
| South Korea | No listing matchedThis site imports Part III of South Korea’s Standards and Specifications for Food Additives, matched by CAS number, then INS number, then exact name. Mixed preparations and sanitisers are not imported, and an entry whose identifiers disagreed with a page’s is held for review, so an empty row does not show that South Korea does not permit the substance. | ||
| United States | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. | ||
| Codex Alimentarius | Not listedDoes not appear on this jurisdiction’s permitted list. That is not the same as being prohibited. |
What it is made from
Made by adding bromine to vegetable oil. The product is a pale yellow to dark brown viscous oily liquid with a bland or fruity odour.
- Vegan
- Vegetarian
Compare other additives on the dietary indexes.
How JECFA defines it
The international specification for identity and purity, prepared by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives and published by FAO. It is a different document from any above, written by a different body and revised on its own cycle; it is advisory, and a country adopts it or does not.
Brominated Vegetable Oils
A bromine addition product of vegetable oil or oils
Synonyms: Brominated oils
Assay, identification and purity criteria
Description and assay
- Specification history
- Prepared at the 14th JECFA (1970), published in NMRS 48B (1971) and in FNP 52 (1992). No ADI was allocated at the 14th JECFA (1970)
- DESCRIPTION
- Pale yellow to dark brown, viscous oily liquid having a bland or fruity odour
- FUNCTIONAL USES
- Cloud producing agent
Identification
- Solubility (Vol. 4)
- Insoluble in water and in ethanol; soluble in chloroform, ethanol and in hexane
- Test for bromide
- To 0.2 g of the sample, add 1 g of anhydrous sodium carbonate, and heat gently to carbonize. Cool, add 5 ml of water, stir and filter. Acidify slightly the filtrate with dilute nitric acid, heat in a water bath for 5 min, and cool. Use this solution in the following two tests: 1. Addition of silver nitrate TS yields a light yellow precipitate which is insoluble in dilute nitric acid or ammonia TS. Separate the precipitate. Add strong ammonia TS to the precipitate and shake. The separated liquid when acidified with dilute nitric acid, yields white turbidity. 2. Addition of chlorine TS yields a yellow to reddish brown colour. When a portion of the resultant solution is shaken with chloroform or carbon disulfide, the lower layer produces yellow to reddish brown colour. Another portion of the resultant solution yields a white precipitate with phenol.
Every name it appears under
2 recorded names. A label may use any of them.
Other names
- Brominated oils
- Brominated vegetable oils
Hazard reference values
No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.
Evidence and how bodies read it
Studies, and the differing conclusions regulators drew from them, are curated rather than machine-read, and none has been written for this substance yet.
Common questions
Assembled from what is above, in the words the questions are usually asked in. Each answer is the same statement the relevant section makes, with the same citations behind it.
- What is Brominated vegetable oils?
- Brominated vegetable oil is vegetable oil with bromine added across its double bonds, which makes it dense enough to keep citrus flavour oils suspended in a soft drink instead of floating to the top. JECFA calls that function a cloud-producing agent.
- Is Brominated vegetable oils vegan?
- Yes. Brominated vegetable oils is not derived from animals, and is suitable for vegetarians. This page says what it is made from and how.
Sources for this page
- jecfaspecs retrieved 2026-09-23
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