Sodium benzoate has been reported to cause skin
rashes or facial swelling in some people when used as a
preservative in acidic foods and beverages, and to
worsen asthma attacks in some patients taking asthma
medications. Reactions to benzoates, however, are a
very low percentage of food allergies; one team of
physicians in Italy rated reactions to benzoates as no
more than 2% of all allergic responses to foods or
drugs.Reporting food-related problems
To report allergic reactions to preservatives or
other food additives, consumers should contact the
FDA’s consumer complaint coordinator in their geo-
graphic area. Links to those persons can be found on
the FDA’s website at http://www.fda.gov/opacom/
backgrounders/problem.htmlndashfood. If the prob-
lem concerns food eaten in or purchased from a res-
taurant, however, it should be reported to the local or
state health department.Toxicity
With the exception of large quantities of nitrites,
no food preservatives approved for use by the FDA or
its international counterparts are directly toxic to
human beings.Resources
BOOKS
Institute of Medicine (IOM).Dietary Reference Intakes for
Water, Potassium, Sodium, Chloride, and Sulfate.
Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2006.
Russell, N. J., and G. W. Gould.Food Preservatives, 2nd ed.
New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 2003.
PERIODICALS
Balatsinou, L., G. Di Gioacchino, G. Sabatino, et al.
‘‘Asthma Worsened by Benzoate Contained in Some
Antiasthmatic Drugs.’’International Journal of Immu-
nopathology and Pharmacology17 (May-August 2004):
225–226.
Chen, Q. C., and J. Wang. ‘‘Simultaneous Determination of
Artificial Sweeteners, Preservatives, Caffeine, Theo-
bromine, and Theophylline in Food and Pharmaceuti-
cal Preparations by Ion Chromatography.’’Journal of
Chromatography A
Davis, B. A., R. F. Raubertas, S. K. Pearson, and W. H.
Bowen. ‘‘The Effects of Benzoate and Fluoride on
Dental Caries in Intact and Desalivated Rats.’’Caries
Research35 (September-October 2001): 331–337.
Foulke, Judith E., and Maribeth LaVecchia. ‘‘A Fresh Look
at Food Preservatives.’’FDA Consumer, October 1993,
updated June 1998. Available online at http://vm.cfsan
.fda.gov/dms/fdpreser.html (accessed April 10, 2007).
Geha, R. S., A. Beiser, C. Ren, et al. ‘‘Review of Alleged
Reaction to Monosodium Glutamate and Outcome of aMulticenter Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Study.’’
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Nettis, E., M. C. Colanardi, A. Ferrannini, and A. Tursi.
‘‘Sodium Benzoate-Induced Repeated Episodes of
Acute Urticaria/Oedema: Randomized Controlled
Trial.’’British Journal of Dermatology151 (October
2004): 898–902.
Warner, Charles R., PhD, Gregory W. Diachenko, PhD,
and Catherine J. Nailey, M.Ed. ‘‘Sulfites: An Important
Food Safety Issue.’’Food Testing and Analysis, August/
September 2000. Available online at http://www.cfsan
.fda.gov/dms/fssulfit.html.
Wilson, B. G., and S. L. Bahna. ‘‘Adverse Reactions to Food
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95 (December 2005): 499–507.
OTHER
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).
EAFUS: A Food Additive Database. Available online at
http://www.foodsafety.gov/dms/eafus.html. EAFUS
stands for ‘‘Everything Added to Food in the United
States; it presently includes about 3000 substances that
the FDA has either approved as food additives or listed
or affirmed as GRAS.
International Food Information Council (IFIC) and U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Food Ingre-
dients & Colors. College Park, MD: Center for Food
Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), 2004. Avail-
able online at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/dms/foodic
.html.
Kantor, Mark A., PhD.Food Additives. College Park, MD:
University of Maryland College of Agriculture and
Natural Resources, 1996. Available online at http://
http://www.agnr.umd.edu/MCE/Publications/Publication.
cfm?ID=108 (accessed April 11, 2007).
National Toxicology Program (NTP). ‘‘Butylated Hydrox-
yanisole (BHA), CAS No. 25013-16-5.’’Report on Car-
cinogens/emphasis>, 11th ed. Research Triangle Park,
NC: NTP, 2005. Available online in PDF format at http://
ntp.niehs.nih.gov/ntp/roc/eleventh/profiles/s027bha.pdf.
Office of Food Additive Safety.Guidance for Industry: Fre-
quently Asked Questions about GRAS. College Park,
MD: Office of Food Additive Safety, 2004. Available
online at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/dms/grasguid
.html.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection
Service (FSIS) Fact Sheet.Food Labeling: Additives in
Meat and Poultry Products. Available online at http://
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Additives_in_Meat_&
_Poultry_Products/index.asp (posted November 2001;
accessed April 11, 2007).
ORGANIZATIONS
American Dietetic Association (ADA). 120 South Riverside
Plaza, Suite 2000, Chicago, IL 60606-6995. Telephone:
(800): 877-1600. Website: http://www.eatright.org.Artificial preservatives