It’s trendy these days to buy foods with as few synthetic chemicals as possible. In fact, conscientious shoppers raise their eyebrows when they see hard-to-pronounce chemical names on an ingredient list. The chemical-sounding names you see near the bottom of the ingredients list are often preservatives, components that prolong the shelf life of food. Manufacturers add them for safety reasons, but some people question whether they’re harmful if you consume them over a long period. Should you be concerned about the preservatives in packaged foods?
What Are Preservatives?
Preservatives are chemical compounds that prolong the shelf life of a product. They do this by blocking the growth of harmful bacteria. Without preservatives, there’s the risk of harmful bacteria gaining a foothold in the product and causing illness. Not all bacteria are friendly. Some produce toxins that cause food poisoning. According to the Federal government, there are 48 million food poisoning cases each year and around 3,000 results in death. No one likes those statistics! Therefore, preservatives have a useful function. It makes the product safer.
Preservatives in food can be synthetic or natural. An example of a natural preservative is vitamin C, the same vitamin that protects against scurvy. Therefore, not all preservatives are made in a lab. When you buy organic products, they often contain natural preservatives like vitamin C. However, there is a downside. Products that contain natural preservatives may have a shorter shelf-life.
Natural Preservatives
Scientists are also looking at using flavonoids, antioxidant compounds in fruits and vegetables, as natural preservatives. Herbs are another source of flavonoids and other compounds with antibacterial activity. A healthy herb that has anti-microbial activity and helps preserve food is rosemary extract. Don’t be surprised to find these natural preservatives in greater use in the future, especially if the demand for natural products continues to grow. However, synthetic preservatives still dominate the market and people are wary of them because of their industrial-sounding names.
Common Synthetic Preservatives – Nitrates
You may have heard that processed meat isn’t good for your health. One reason is how they’re preserved. Manufacturers add sodium nitrate to processed meat to prevent bacterial growth. Some studies link sodium nitrate with cancer, including cancer of the digestive tract. Why is there is a link? It has to do with the bacteria that live in your body. Some bacteria in your saliva and gut can convert sodium nitrate to cancer-causing agents called nitrosamines.
On the positive side, meat processors use less sodium nitrate than they did decades ago. Plus, they add vitamin C to the meat to reduce the number of nitrosamines that form. Therefore, it’s not clear if processed meat contributes to the risk of developing cancer in modern times. Yet some studies suggest that eating even moderate amounts of processed meat increases cancer risk.
Another common group of preservatives in food are benzoates, including benzoic acid and sodium benzoate. You find this class of preservatives in salad dressings, condiments, tea, fruit juice, coffee, and soft drinks. It’s also in some cosmetics and medications. The FDA classifies benzoates as safe but limits the quantity manufacturers can use in products.
Are Benzoates Harmful?
The problem with the benzoates is they interact with vitamin C in products to form benzene, a potent cancer-causing agent. This is more likely to occur if you expose a product containing both to heat. Fruit juice with benzoates is problematic because manufacturers use benzoates to preserve those colorful bottles of fruit juice that also contain vitamin C. By themselves, benzoates aren’t especially harmful, but when you put them in the wrong context, they can be.
Some people also appear to be sensitive to benzoates. Those who are may develop itching and swelling when they consume a lot. Some research also links benzoates with attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In animal studies, high doses of benzoates cause oxidative stress and inflammation. However, the dose makes the poison and the FDA only allows small quantities of benzoates in food products.
Sorbates and Sulfites
If you enjoy dried meat or fruit, wine, yogurt, and certain baked goods, you’re consuming small quantities of potassium sorbate or sorbic acid, a common class of preservatives. Sorbates, especially in the low quantity manufacturers’ use in products are safe. However, some people may be sensitive and experience allergic-like symptoms when they consume sorbates in large amounts.
Speaking of sensitivities and allergic reactions, one of the most common food additives that a segment of the population is sensitive to is sulfites. In fact, individuals with asthma are at higher risk. One in five people who suffer from asthma are also sensitive to sulfites and experience an allergic reaction when they consume even small amounts. Some people who don’t have asthma are also sensitive to sulfites. This preservative is most common in beer, wine, fruit juice, dried fruit, tea, jams, jellies, soup mixes, shrimp, and condiments, although you can find them in other packaged foods too.
Some Concerns about Preservatives and Additives
Although most preservatives appear safe in small quantities, there’s a lot we don’t know. For example, research suggests that some food additives can disrupt the gut microbiome. Since we know the gut microbiome helps regulate the immune system and inflammatory pathways, these substances that keep our food safe could also cause inflammatory reactions in susceptible individuals. For example, some animal studies link certain synthetic preservatives with intestinal inflammation and metabolic issues in animals. Therefore, it’s best to limit the quantity of processed and packaged foods you eat. Plus, there are other reasons to do that! When you eat whole foods, you reduce the number of preservatives you put into your body and you get superior nutrition too.
References:
- com. “What Is Sulfite Sensitivity?”
- Science Daily. “Highly effective natural plant-based food preservative discovered”
- International Food Information Council Foundation. “The Benefits of Preservatives in Our Food”
- Ital J Food Saf. 2016 Jan 18; 5(1): 4313.Published online 2016 Feb 5. doi: 10.4081/ijfs.2016.4313.
- ACS Distance Education. “Artificial Preservatives”
- Cancer Research UK. “Bacon, salami and sausages: how does processed meat cause cancer and how much matters?”
- US Food and Drug Administration. “CFR – Code of Federal Regulations Title 21”
- US Food and Drug Administration. “Questions and Answers on the Occurrence of Benzene in Soft Drinks and Other Beverages”
- com. “Food Preservatives: Linked to Obesity and Gut Disease”
- gov. “Food Poisoning”
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