Coke and PepsiCo Aust don't use BVO

Coca-Cola and PepsiCo in Australia do not use a controversial ingredient that's being dropped from their soft drinks in the US.

Coca-Cola Australia does not use brominated vegetable oil (BVO) in any of its products manufactured in Australia, a spokeswoman told AAP.

PepsiCo Australia & New Zealand also confirmed to AAP that BVO is not used in any of its Australian drinks.

The US arms of both soft drinks makers have come under pressure to drop the controversial ingredient after a Mississippi teenager launched a petition on Change.org, saying BVO is used as a flame retardant and is not approved for use in Japan and the European Union.

Some of the soft drinks affected in the US include Fanta, Mountain Dew, Gatorade and Powerade.

PepsiCo last year said it would remove BVO from Gatorade. On Monday, US agency Associated Press (AP) reported the company was working on removing it from the rest of its products.

Coca-Cola had also said it was removing the ingredient from all its drinks, and would instead use sucrose acetate isobutyrate, used in drinks for more than 14 years, and glycerol ester of rosin, which is commonly found in chewing gum and drinks, the AP said.