Sodium Benzoate a food preserve, it is found in salad dressing, jams, pickles, juices and soft drinks.
Fast Facts
- Known as benzoate of soda
- Listed as sodium benzoate or E211 on product labels
- Found naturally in cranberries, prunes, cinnamon and apples
- Added to soft drinks to prevent bacteria, yeasts and molds from growing
- Sufferers of asthma may be allergic to sodium benzoate
- Linked to hyperactivity in children
Health Concerns
In 2007, the Food Standards Agency of England found that Sodium Benzoate contributes to cell damage linked to aging and degenerate diseases like Parkinson's. Beverage Daily Fresh health fears hit benzoate in soft drinks
Sodium Benzoate has also been linked to hyperactivity and other behavioral problems in children.Food Standards Agency: Food Standards Agency issues revised advice on certain artificial colours
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C like ascorbic acid in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.
Now, an expert in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about another danger. Professor Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important area of DNA in the "power station" of cells known as the mitochondria.
He told The Independent on Sunday: "These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.
"The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing."
The FSA urges that companies find alternative ways to preserve their products.List of Sodium Benzoate products
Pickles,
juices,
sodas ,
etc
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