Flora Research Laboratories has been awarded a contract from the US National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements to develop a new method of analysing benzene levels in consumer products and, when the method is finalized, to use it to evaluate benzene levels in liquid supplements.
In the last two months there has been much government concern and media coverage about benzene levels in soft drink products, after it emerged that the FDA has re-opened a 15-year-old investigation into elevated benzene levels resulting from use of the preservative sodium benzoate.
The problem is caused when two common ingredients – sodium benzoate (a preservative) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C) – are used together. When placed in acidic conditions, sodium benzoate breaks down into benzoic acid.
This may result in benzene levels higher than the US and EU limits for drinking water.
Benzene is listed as a poisonous chemical shown to increase the risk of leukaemia and other cancers. But the soft drinks industry has said that it is a question of quality, not health, in drinks.
In the US, the combination is thought to be particularly common in liquid aloe vera and vitamin formulations, and FRL has been contacted by some companies that have expressed concern following the reports about the drinks sector.
Liquid supplements are often used by people such as children or the elderly, who may be unable to swallow tablets and capsules.
The sodium benzoate-ascorbic acid reaction is accelerated in the presence of transitory metals such as copper and iron – a factor he said may lead to substantial benzene formation in herbal products.
Steve - if you take liquid supplements, to be proactive, check your ingredients to make sure it does not contain sodium benzoate.
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