By Martin Hickman
A year after I warned there might be a problem with sodium benzoate, the world's biggest soft drinks manufacturer seems to be in agreement. Coca-Cola has taken the preservative out of Diet Coke and would like to remove it from others. Yet sodium benzoate remains in millions of fizzy drinks slurped down every day in the UK, including Fanta, Lucozade and Irn Bru. Is there something wrong with E211? If not, why would a £14bn-a-year global corporation remove a harmless ingredient from billions of drinks?
Let's be clear: Coke is not saying there is a problem with sodium benzoate. Indeed it will continue adding E211 to its high-acid drinks, Dr Pepper, Fanta, Oasis, Sprite and Schweppes, where there are not yet any other suitable preservatives. But it will remove sodium benzoate if possible. So it removed it from Diet Coke in January and no Diet Coke bought after August should contain E211. In a statement, Coca-Cola said: "We recognise changing consumer needs and that research is ongoing, and are looking to phase out the use of sodium benzoate where technically possible."
Why is Coke concerned by this "research"? Well, sodium benzoate has been linked to three problems. It can combine with another preservative often used in soft drinks Vitamin C to cause a potentially carcinogenic substance, benzene. This is a slight worry to the US Food and Drug Administration and the UK Food Standards Agency.
Sodium benzoate is also in the mix of seven E-numbers that worsened hyperactivity in children in a £750,000 peer-reviewed study by Southampton University. (Though no-one can be sure which additives did the harm).
And, according to another peer-reviewed study, by Professor Peter Piper, of Sheffield University, sodium benzoate can switch off the power-generating parts of cells, judging by laboratory experiments on yeast cells.
Now, Professor Piper is not saying this means that sodium benzoate causes DMA damage in humans which is linked to degenerative diseases and ageing. But he is calling for the food authorities to fund some research - by someone else - to find out if it does.
As a result of our story about his research, the Food Standards Agency belatedly referred his 1999 study to experts on the Committee on Mutagenicity. A year on, the committee has just published its view. Broadly, it says that human cells are tougher than yeast cells, so would probably fight off any DNA damage from sodium benzoate. As a result, it concludes there is no need for further research.
Professor Piper says the committee lacks expertise on mitochondrial damage and has made an elementary error about the cells in his experiment. More broadly, he says the regulatory authorities, swayed by the power of the soft drinks industry, have been guilty of a "whitewash" on the potential harm done by sodium benzoate.
Interestingly, the Food Standards Agency has demanded an industry-wide ban on the six colours tested by Southampton University but not on sodium benzoate, because (amazingly, this really was the reason) sodium benzoate is a preservative.
Coca-Cola says that it has not done any research on sodium benzoate. So, officially, there have been no new studies on sodium benzoate - and it is safe. Reassured?
I find the article extremely important, although i don't agree with the difficulties of finding another preservative, for mold.
Our research & development studies on drinking vinegars, are also backed up by well known bio-chemists, vinegar being a 100% natural preservative product for health.
Our vinegars have no real vinegar taste, and are enjoyed by 100 of thousands, as a beverage and once opened, the taste does not deteriorate, I am positive that vinegar could be added to all beverages, as a preservative and add to the refreshing taste.
I would contact them myself, but who listens!
Posted by: Kenneth Lamb | Tuesday, 20 May 2008 at 09:53 AM
The three health concerns of sodium benzoate ("causes benzene with vit C, causes hyperactivity in children and causes DNA damage") have been a hot item for years now. It has been all over the press globally and even caused CocaCola to remove it from their Diet Coke (in the UK only!). Now if there is such a major health concern, why haven't there been any more studies done? Either to prove the research right or wrong. Either way, we want to know the truth instead of reading thousands of articles all based on the same single reseach?
Posted by: Lisette | Monday, 16 June 2008 at 03:27 PM
I am very concerned about this as the big industries are slowly killing away their customer base. What can we do to stop it!? I'm in South Africa and i do not know of anyone who is remotely concerned at all about the effects or damage soda is having on us. What is the world coming to! What can we do?
Posted by: Sian | Tuesday, 17 June 2008 at 12:12 PM
Thank you for this article, it's of great help! I'm doing my extended essay on "the effect of sodium benzoate concentration on shrimp heart rate" so this really helped me. Has there been any safety tests recently that have conclusive evidence regarding the safety of sodium benzoate?
Posted by: Ira | Tuesday, 22 July 2008 at 05:17 AM
I have a question. What I have read so far about sodium benzoate has to do with soft drinks. Does Sodium Benzoate pose the same dangers if it were used in a juice? I do know of some companies claiming to have a all natural juice product but use sodium benzoate.
Posted by: RCG, Inc | Saturday, 16 August 2008 at 11:40 PM
I can personally say that Myself and son have had a bad experienc with nestle fruit water and fruit 2o. Nestley being the worst. It took about 6 to 8 months to make the connection to sodium benzoate to the itchy, scratchy, throat clearing effects that we were getting. My sister in law had the same problem . My son would for hours clear his throat claiming it was itchy, I would give him allergy meds and at one point gave him his asthma inhaler. The night I decided to check what was in the water, I started off with a couple sips and the itchy throat started instantly, still not thinking it could possibly be fruit flavored water, I drank the whole thing and of course got worse. I did have to take my inhaler and drank some more plain water . I said it has to be the water and my husband said your water has more stuff in it then my tea. So I checked line by line what was in the flavored water and googled them all . SODIUM BENZOATE!!!
What can I do to help? This is an aggravation to asthma. With out Asthma its and itchy aggravation at best.
I did call the company and reported it all.
Posted by: Brenda | Saturday, 04 October 2008 at 01:50 AM
All Fd&C dyes and Sodium Benzoate can effect your heart and brain. Just ask someone who some awful things have happened to them. Dye is in every thing just read the lables,they have to put them on them.
Posted by: JoAnn | Friday, 27 March 2009 at 09:51 PM
Having read all the other comments with interest, I will say it is safe to drink pure brewed vinegar beverages, which are 100% Naturally fermented fruits and grains.
Sodium Benzoate is risky,and I ask Martin Hickman, why does the beverage industry not use drinking vinegars as a natural preservative? I do not mean just vinegar, because distilled water and acetic acid as no health benefits at all. Only specially brewed grain vinegars provide health benefits.
I find it annoying that no one is taking the advancements in biotechnology serious enough, and our health vinegars, which have been around for years in Asia have not yet hit the west. Our www.drinkingvinegar.com beverages do not taste of vinegar at all and you can drink just as much as any other beverage,
Posted by: drinkingvinegar | Sunday, 19 April 2009 at 08:58 AM