Food preservatives may increase the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease

looking at Ingredient labels on foods lining supermarket shelves, it’s common to see names like “potassium sorbate,” “citric acid,” and “L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C).” These substances are food additives used to prevent spoilage and maintain quality, and are widely incorporated into industrially produced processed foods. According to Open Food Facts, the world’s largest open food database, more than 20 percent of processed foods and drinks in its database contain at least one preservative.

Against this background, a research team led by scientists at Sorbonne Paris Nord and Paris City University analyzed data from the large-scale NutriNet-Santé cohort study, which followed 112,395 participants for an average of 7.9 years, to investigate the relationship between intake of food preservatives and the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.

“Experimental studies suggest that some preservative food additives may be harmful to cardiovascular health, but we do not have sufficient evidence on the effects of these ingredients in humans,” Agnes Hasenbühler, the doctoral researcher who led the study, said in a press release. “To our knowledge, this is the first study of its kind looking at the links between a broad range of preservatives and cardiovascular health.”

8 preservatives linked to high blood pressure risks

Researchers divided preservatives into two broad categories. The first consists of non-antioxidant preservatives, such as sorbates, nitrites and sulfites, which prevent the growth of mold and bacteria. The second consists of antioxidant preservatives, including ascorbic acid, citric acid, and erythorbate, which prevent oxidation and discoloration in foods. According to the researchers, almost every participant (99.5%) consumed at least one preservative during the first two years of the study.

The analysis found that participants who consumed the highest amount of non-antioxidant preservatives had a 29% higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared to those who consumed the lowest amount. They also had a 16% higher risk of cardiovascular disease overall, including heart attack, stroke and angina. Participants who consumed the highest amount of antioxidants also showed a 22% higher risk of developing high blood pressure.

The researchers also examined the 17 most common preservatives individually. Among them, eight have been associated with an increased risk of high blood pressure: potassium sorbate (E202), potassium metabisulfite (E224), sodium nitrite (E250), ascorbic acid (E300), sodium ascorbate (E301), sodium erythorbate (E316), citric acid (E330), and rosemary extract (E392). Among these factors, ascorbic acid is also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

During the follow-up period, researchers recorded 5,544 cases of high blood pressure and 2,450 cases of cardiovascular disease, including 1,142 cerebrovascular accidents and 1,308 cases of coronary artery disease. The study also found that approximately 16% of the association between non-antioxidant preservatives and cardiovascular disease was indirectly mediated through hypertension. In other words, the results suggest that preservatives may contribute to high blood pressure, which in turn may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Calls for a re-evaluation of food additive regulations

The researchers stress that these results come from an observational study and do not prove a causal relationship between food preservatives and high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease. The study also has important limitations. Women made up 78.7% of participants, and the group included a relatively high percentage of highly educated individuals, meaning it did not perfectly represent the general population.

However, the statistical models account for a wide range of potential confounding factors, and the results remained consistent across multiple sensitivity analyses.

“These results indicate that we need to re-evaluate the risks and benefits of these food additives by responsible authorities, such as the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in Europe and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA, in order to better protect the consumer,” Mathilde Touvier, research director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, said in a press release. “In the meantime, these findings support current recommendations to favor unprocessed and minimally processed foods, and avoid unnecessary additives.”

The possibility that preservatives long considered safe may affect cardiovascular health raises important questions about current regulatory approaches. For additives that are consistently consumed across multiple foods without numerical limits on their use, the results suggest that it may be time to reopen the debate about whether current regulations are adequate.

This story originally appeared on Wired Japan It was translated from Japanese.