4 ms·

I would like to use this as an opportunity to encourage people to stay away from foods with potassium/sodium benzoate as a preservative. This nasty stuff actua

I would like to use this as an opportunity to encourage people to stay away from foods with potassium/sodium benzoate as a preservative. This nasty stuff actually has potential to form benzene in foods. Don't poison yourself. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene_in_soft_drinks http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene_in_soft_drinks

jrockway 18y ago
Good advice. My general policy is that if the ingredient isn't in my kitchen, I probably don't want to eat food containing it. In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way. So why risk whatever the long-term effects are when you are not even being rewarded?
- silentbicycle 18y ago
  "In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way." That's a really good point.
  - RK 18y ago
    Like allowing you to buy in bulk?
    - jrockway 18y ago
      This is a good point, but food can last a long time without preservatives. I have never had any dry food spoil on me, and I don't go through food particularly quickly. I think I have had some unopened flour around for about 3 years :)
- timr 18y ago
  "In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way." You only think that way because you've grown up with the luxury of a food supply that is well-protected against a huge number of scourges that were killing significant numbers of people less than a century ago. Without preservatives, a huge number of the foods we take for granted today (such as canned foods) would be impossible to produce. So unless you can/pickle/preserve all of your own vegetables (which still carries a significant risk of botulism), it's pretty difficult to say that preservatives don't benefit you.
  - jcromartie 18y ago
    I don't buy it. I can go to a store like Trader Joe's, where they deal almost entirely in packaged foods, and there are no industrial-era preservatives to be found. Pasteurization and sterile containers go a long way.
    - deleted 18y ago
      [deleted]
h34t 18y ago
I learned about this after running into a guy in a Potassium Sorbate company in China. They are gradually taking over the market for potassium/sodium benzoate in soft drinks. There has even been some controversy over how Pepsi/Coke has been taking it out of western industrialized countries due to health concerns while keeping it in poorer countries.
SirWart 18y ago
From the article: "The UK Food Standards Agency has stated that people would need to drink at least 20 litres per day of a drink containing benzene at 10 μg to equal the amount of benzene you would breathe from city air every day" ...which is why I only breathe canned air.

jrockway 18y ago

Good advice. My general policy is that if the ingredient isn't in my kitchen, I probably don't want to eat food containing it. In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way. So why risk whatever the long-term effects are when you are not even being rewarded?

silentbicycle 18y ago
"In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way." That's a really good point.
- RK 18y ago
  Like allowing you to buy in bulk?
  - jrockway 18y ago
    This is a good point, but food can last a long time without preservatives. I have never had any dry food spoil on me, and I don't go through food particularly quickly. I think I have had some unopened flour around for about 3 years :)
timr 18y ago
"In the case of preservatives, it may benefit the company that uses them since their food won't spoil on the shelf -- but it doesn't benefit me in any way." You only think that way because you've grown up with the luxury of a food supply that is well-protected against a huge number of scourges that were killing significant numbers of people less than a century ago. Without preservatives, a huge number of the foods we take for granted today (such as canned foods) would be impossible to produce. So unless you can/pickle/preserve all of your own vegetables (which still carries a significant risk of botulism), it's pretty difficult to say that preservatives don't benefit you.
- jcromartie 18y ago
  I don't buy it. I can go to a store like Trader Joe's, where they deal almost entirely in packaged foods, and there are no industrial-era preservatives to be found. Pasteurization and sterile containers go a long way.
  - deleted 18y ago
    [deleted]

h34t 18y ago

I learned about this after running into a guy in a Potassium Sorbate company in China. They are gradually taking over the market for potassium/sodium benzoate in soft drinks. There has even been some controversy over how Pepsi/Coke has been taking it out of western industrialized countries due to health concerns while keeping it in poorer countries.

SirWart 18y ago

From the article: "The UK Food Standards Agency has stated that people would need to drink at least 20 litres per day of a drink containing benzene at 10 μg to equal the amount of benzene you would breathe from city air every day" ...which is why I only breathe canned air.