Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health: Expert links
additive
Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health
http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586652.ece
By Martin Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent
Published: 27 May 2007
Expert links additive to cell damage
A new health scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may
cause serious cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common
preservative found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to
switch off vital parts of DNA.
The problem - more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can
eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as
Parkinson's.
The findings could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of
people worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the
controversy about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in
children.
Concerns centre on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative
used for decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium
benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used
in large quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and
Dr Pepper. It is also added to pickles and sauces.
Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because
when mixed with the additive vitamin C 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 Food Standards Agency (FSA) backs the use of sodium benzoate in the UK and
it has been approved by the European Union but last night, MPs called for it to
investigate urgently.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat chair of Parliament's all-party environment
group said: "Many additives are relatively new and their long-term impact
cannot be certain. This preservative clearly needs to be investigated further
by the FSA."
A review of sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded
that it was safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety
was "limited".
Professor Piper, whose work has been funded by a government research council,
said tests conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration were out of date.
"The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are
complete safe," he said. "By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety
tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you
can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago."
He advised parents to think carefully about buying drinks with preservatives
until the quantities in products were proved safe by new tests. "My concern is
for children who are drinking large amounts," he said.
Coca-Cola and Britvic's Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi all contain sodium benzoate.
Their makers and the British Soft Drinks Association said they entrusted the
safety of additives to the Government._
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