Plate Nº 48 · recorded October 10, 2026
Health & Medicine ResearchReported finding
Eight Common Food Preservatives Linked to Heart Disease Risk
A French study of 112,395 adults followed for seven to eight years tied eight common food preservatives — including potassium sorbate and sodium nitrite — to a higher risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
By Marcus Bennett3 min read627 words
In brief
- Eight common food preservatives were associated with higher blood pressure risk in a study of 112,395 French adults followed for an average of seven to eight years.
- Participants with the highest intake of non-antioxidant preservatives had a 29% higher risk of hypertension and a 16% higher risk of cardiovascular disease.
- 99.5% of participants consumed at least one food preservative during the first two years of follow-up.
- The eight preservatives tied to higher blood pressure included potassium sorbate (E202), sodium nitrite (E250), and ascorbic acid (E300); ascorbic acid also linked to cardiovascular disease.
- The findings were published in the European Heart Journal on September 20, 2026.
Eight common food preservatives — including potassium sorbate (E202) and sodium nitrite (E250) — were associated with a higher risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease in a French study of 112,395 adults, published in the European Heart Journal on September 20, 2026.
Researchers followed volunteers for an average of seven to eight years. People who consumed the largest amounts of "non-antioxidant" preservatives had a 29% higher risk of hypertension than those who ate the least. The same group showed a 16% higher risk of cardiovascular disease, a category that included heart attack, stroke and angina.
Antioxidant preservatives also showed a link. The highest consumers of those additives faced a 22% higher risk of high blood pressure.
How did the researchers track diet and health?
The work came out of NutriNet-Santé, a large ongoing French project examining nutrition and disease. Every six months, 112,395 participants logged everything they ate and drank during three-day windows. Investigators then checked the ingredient lists of those foods and beverages, including the preservatives they contained.
Exposure proved nearly universal. During the first two years of follow-up, 99.5% of volunteers consumed at least one food preservative.
The research team, led by Dr. Mathilde Touvier and PhD student Anaïs Hasenböhler of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, also analyzed 17 of the most commonly consumed preservatives individually.
Which preservatives stood out?
Eight tied specifically to a higher risk of hypertension:
- Potassium sorbate (E202)
- Potassium metabisulphite (E224)
- Sodium nitrite (E250)
- Ascorbic acid (E300)
- Sodium ascorbate (E301)
- Sodium erythorbate (E316)
- Citric acid (E330)
- Rosemary extracts (E392)
Ascorbic acid (E300) — a form of vitamin C — also linked to cardiovascular disease itself.
Non-antioxidant preservatives typically block bacteria and mold. Antioxidant preservatives slow oxidation, the chemical process that browns cut apples, turns fats rancid, or fades food color.
Why are these findings hard to interpret?
The study was observational. It tracked statistical associations, not direct cause and effect. People who eat more processed foods may differ in other ways that also shape heart risk — income, exercise, sleep, or total calorie intake.
Ms. Hasenböhler acknowledged the gap in earlier evidence. "Experimental studies suggest that some preservative food additives may be harmful to cardiovascular health, but we have not had enough evidence on the impact of these ingredients in humans," she said. "As far as we know, this is the first study of its kind to investigate the links between a wide range of preservatives and cardiovascular health."
How might preservatives affect the body?
One candidate mechanism is oxidative stress, a state in which reactive molecules build up faster than the body's defenses can neutralize them. Over years, that imbalance can damage cells and tissues.
Researchers are also probing whether preservatives change how the pancreas regulates blood sugar. The team plans to study how additives and ultra-processed foods influence inflammation, oxidative stress, blood markers of metabolism, and the gut microbiota — the vast community of bacteria and other microbes living in the digestive tract.
What do the researchers recommend?
Dr. Touvier called on regulators such as the European Food Safety Authority and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to re-evaluate these additives. "These results suggest we need a re-evaluation of the risks and benefits of these food additives by the authorities in charge," she said.
She also pointed to dietary guidance. "In the meantime, these findings support existing recommendations to favor non-processed and minimally processed foods, and avoid unnecessary additives," she added.
Doctors, she said, "play a key role in explaining these recommendations to the public."
The study adds weight to calls for tighter scrutiny of food preservatives, but it cannot yet tell consumers which products, at which doses, carry meaningful risk.
via dx.doi.org (Original)
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