MadSci Network: Chemistry |
Hi, Yesterday I got into a discussion with my chemistry teacher because I am against eating too much processed food. Sodium benzoate(C6H5COONa) used as a common food presevative was an example given by one of my classmates as something which can be toxic if consumed in large quantities. The argument of my teacher was that the damage by food preservatives was minimum since industrialized countries which consumed processed foods had a greater life span that countries in which people consumed natural foods. I think that there are many other factors which influence these statistics. I know the law prohibits the use of more than 0.1% of the salt in foods but that dosen't tell me much. Can my body get rid of C6H5COONa consumed or does it acumulate in my body? Can it produce cancer? What exactly do they mena by toxic? What part of my organism does it damage?
Re: How toxic is sodium benzoate?
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Chemistry.