Sodium benzoate is the preservative the food industry lists as E211. In our table it is high risk: it takes 30 of the 33 additive points off a product's score for a child.
- High risk. 30 of the 33 additive points come off a product that carries it.
- Flagged for young children. Set only where EFSA’s own exposure assessment shows toddlers or children exceeding or approaching the ADI, or where a regulator used explicitly child-specific language. For a child under 6 it moves one class up.
- 4 citations from EFSA, Peer-reviewed, FDA, each one below.
What Sodium benzoate does to a score
A packaged food starts with 33 points for what is in its ingredient list. Sodium benzoate takes 30 of the 33 additive points off a product's score, and a child under 6 sees it one class higher again. Scan the pack in Sito and the score you get is the one for your own child's age, with this additive named in the reasons. How we score has the whole method.
What the sources found
Every classification in our table comes from the citations below, and nothing else. They are quoted as the source wrote them.
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EFSA
10.2903/j.efsa.2016.4433 (EFSA Journal 2016;14(3):4433)
Group ADI 5 mg/kg bw/day (as benzoic acid). 'the group ADI was exceeded in the brand-loyal scenario in particular for toddlers and children consuming on a regular basis flavoured drinks'; with carry-over the ADI is also exceeded 'in toddlers and children for the non-brand-loyal scenario'. -
Peer-reviewed
McCann et al., Lancet 2007; doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(07)61306-3
Randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover: mixes of artificial colours PLUS sodium benzoate increased hyperactive behaviour in 3-year-olds and 8/9-year-olds in the general population. -
Peer-reviewed
Bateman et al., Arch Dis Child 2004; doi:10.1136/adc.2003.031435
Double-blind placebo-controlled challenge with artificial colourings + 45 mg/day sodium benzoate in 3-year-olds: significantly greater increases in hyperactive behaviour on active vs placebo by parental report. -
FDA
21 CFR §184.1733 (sodium benzoate, GRAS)
GRAS in the US as a chemical preservative; no US restriction or phase-out.
Why this class
IARC Group 1 or 2A with a dietary exposure route; or EFSA has withdrawn or negated a safety conclusion; or EFSA’s own exposure assessment finds a child age group exceeding the ADI at mean intake; or the substance is banned or formally being phased out for food use by the EU, by the US FDA, or under a US state law.
Our confidence in this row's classification is medium. Medium or low does not mean the evidence is weak; it means something about the row is still being pinned down, usually a regulatory status confirmed from one source rather than two.
See what is in your own cupboard
Scan a packaged food and Sito names the additives in it, then scores the product out of 100 for your child's age.
Other preservatives in the table
- Calcium bisulphite (E227), high risk
- Potassium bisulphite (E228), high risk
- Potassium nitrite (E249), high risk
- Sodium nitrite (E250), high risk
- Sodium nitrate (E251), high risk
- Potassium nitrate (E252), high risk