Sodium benzoate will react with gastric acid in human body to generate benzoic acid. Benzoic acid has certain toxicity, and long-term drinking will cause chronic benzene poisoning. The symptoms of chronic benzene poisoning are mainly neurasthenia, such as headache, dizziness, memory loss, insomnia, fatigue, etc. At the same time, patients will also have leukopenia, which will also cause aplastic anemia in severe cases.

is a very common food preservative, which has the effect of preventing deterioration and souring and prolonging the shelf life, and is widely used in all countries in the world.

There are also preservatives that are harmful to human body, such as antioxidants, phosphates and oils.

As preservatives, benzoic acid and sodium benzoate are widely used in food processing and preservation, but limited in some foods in some countries. Because benzoic acid can play a role in free state in food, it has better effect in strong acid food.

benzoic acid is generally used in carbonated drinks, soy sauce, sauces, candied fruit and vegetable drinks, etc. In soy sauce and drinks, benzoic acid can be used together with p-hydroxybenzoic acid esters to increase efficiency. Benzoic acid and sodium benzoate are often used to preserve highly acidic fruits, jams, beverage syrups and other acidic foods, which can be used together at low temperature for sterilization and play a synergistic role.

benzoic acid and sodium benzoate are generally limited to foods with high content in protein. The effect of sodium benzoate on microorganisms is the same as that of benzoic acid, but because it is a sodium salt, it needs to be added 1.2 times as much as benzoic acid to achieve the same bactericidal effect as benzoic acid.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Application and Limit of Sodium Benzoate