Benzoates, sulphites and sorbates in the food supply
Report of the 21st Australian Total Diet Study
3 August 2005
The Australian Total Diet Study (ATDS), formerly known as the Australian Market Basket Study, is Australia’s most comprehensive assessment of consumers’ dietary intake to a range of food chemicals, including food additives, nutrients, pesticide residues, contaminants and other substances.
The 21st ATDS, carried out by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), has estimated the intake of the Australian population to three classes of preservatives in food – benzoates, sulphites and sorbates.
What are preservatives and why are they used?
Preservatives are food additives designed mainly to improve the microbiological safety of food. As a consequence of this, preservatives may also maintain the palatability and attractiveness of foodstuffs to the consumer. Sulphite, benzoate and sorbate preservatives are widely used throughout the food industry.
How does the 21st ATDS differ from previous studies?
The intention with the 21st ATDS and future studies is to conduct more frequent studies on fewer food chemicals that, over time, investigate a broader range of food chemicals in a more comprehensive manner. Previous ATDSs looked at pesticide residues and contaminants only, finding that these present a very low public health and safety risk. FSANZ will now investigate those food chemicals for which there are insufficient data, or for which there may be cause for concern that dietary exposure might exceed the reference health standard. For example, for some additives the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) for some population groups may be exceeded. This is the amount of food additive that can be ingested daily over an entire lifetime without any appreciable risk to health and is expressed in units of milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight per day (mg/kg bw/day).
Which foods were sampled for the study?
The food survey conducted for the 21st ATDS sampled 59 types of food for which permissions have been given for preservatives in theAustralia New Zealand Food Standards Code. In light of State and Territory enforcement data, minced meat was also included in the 21st ATDS, although there is no permission for sulphite usage in minced meat in the Code.
Types of foods sampled included alcoholic beverages (including red and white wine and beer), non-alcoholic beverages (including juice, cordials and soft-drinks), cereal products (including bread, cake, pasta and muesli bars) cheeses and cheese-based dips, dried fruits and dried fruit products (including dried apricots, apples, prunes and ‘fruit fingers’), meat products (including sausages, frankfurts, hamburger patties and strassburg), ice cream toppings, potato crisps and hot potato chips.
Foods were sampled from all Australian States and Territories.
To obtain the most realistic estimate of the amount of sulphites, benzoates and sorbates in the food as it is normally eaten, the sampled foods were prepared to a ‘ready-to-eat’ state before being analysed. For example, sausages were fried and cordial was made up according to the instructions.
For which age groups were estimates of dietary intake calculated?
The dietary intake estimates were calculated for a range of age-gender groups. The groups comprised young girls aged 2-5 years, young boys aged 2-5 years, school girls aged 6-12 years, school boys aged 6-12 years, teenage girls aged 13-18 years, teenage boys aged 13-18 years, adult females aged 19 years and over and adult males aged 19 years and over. Dietary intakes were also estimated for the entire female and male populations aged two years and over, which we assume to be representative of a lifetime of dietary exposure to the preservatives.
What are the main findings of the 21st ATDS?
The 21st ATDS found that, for the majority of the people in all age groups, there is no public health and safety risk from eating a balanced diet that includes foods prepared using sulphites, benzoates and sorbates.
The results indicate that, for all the population groups assessed, even high consumers of sorbates had a dietary intake well below the ADI for sorbate. However, in some age groups, the eating patterns of some people can lead to a high consumption of benzoates and sulphites, resulting in an intake above their respective ADIs.
For example, the ATDS found that young children who are high consumers of certain sulphite-containing foods (for example, dried apricots, sausages and cordial) have estimated intakes that exceeded the ADI for sulphites. Similarly, young children who are very high consumers of certain benzoate-containing foods (for example, non-cola soft drinks, orange juice and cordial) exceeded the ADI for benzoates, but to a lesser degree than for sulphites. In the modelling used to estimate intake, it was assumed that the same foods were eaten every day.
It is important to note that young children are more likely to exceed the ADI than adults, due to their higher consumption of food per kilogram of body weight.
Should the community be worried about the dietary intakes estimated in the 21st ATDS?
No. The results of the study show that there are no public health and safety concerns for the majority of people who regularly select a balanced diet that includes foods containing benzoates, sulphites and sorbates.
There is also no need for people whose eating patterns lead to high intakes of these preservatives, to be unduly concerned. When conducting the ATDS, FSANZ makes conservative assumptions, which are likely to result in the dietary intake being an over-estimation.
This estimate is then compared to an internationally agreed reference health standard, in this case, the ADI, which is also conservative and includes a 100-fold safety factor.
However, this large margin of safety is reduced for people who have intakes of sulphites and benzoates that exceed the reference standard on a regular basis.
What are the possible health consequences of dietary intake of benzoates and sulphites?
FSANZ is aware that sulphites are of particular concern to those suffering from asthma. This concern is already addressed by the mandatory labelling of all foods with sulphite concentrations of 10 mg/kg or more. The issue of sulphite sensitivity has been considered previously by FSANZ and resulted in the wide distribution of a brochure entitled “For Asthma Sufferers: The Facts About Sulphites in Food” which is available on the FSANZ web site. There is little evidence to suggest that sulphites are a concern for non-asthmatics.
In relation to other potential health consequences, there is currently no clinical evidence to suggest that high dietary intake of sulphites and benzoates can cause adverse effects in people.
Food additives are tested in experimental animals in order to identify any potential adverse health effects. Such studies are normally conducted at dose levels that are considerably higher than the levels normally found in foods. Sulphites, when tested in animals for periods over three months with daily high dose exposure, caused gastric lesions. There was little evidence of toxicity in other organs even at higher dose levels. In a similar study with high daily exposure to benzoates, there were only general signs of toxicity, such as lethargy and reduced food intake.
Which foods contribute to high dietary intake of these preservatives?
Some people’s eating patterns may lead to a high level of intake of benzoates and sulphites. This can be from eating food that has high levels of the preservatives (for example, dried apricots), or eating large amounts of food that contains moderate or low levels of the preservatives (for example, wine), or a combination of these.
The 21st ATDS found that the foods that contributed the most to the estimated dietary intake of sulphites included dried apricots, sausages, cordial and white wine. Foods that contributed the most to the estimated dietary intake of benzoates were non-cola soft drinks, cordial and orange juice.
What is FSANZ doing to address the problem?
FSANZ has decided to undertake a Review of sulphites and benzoates in the Food Supply (Proposal P298). We will be working with food manufacturers to refine our data and if necessary establish the best way to reduce dietary intake of these preservatives.
The challenge will be to identify permissible levels of usage that lower intake of sulphites and benzoates, while retaining the technological function of the preservatives in the foods or to assist industry to find alternative preservatives and methodologies in some cases. We are seeking input to the review from concerned individuals, consumer groups, public health professionals and industry.
The 21st ATDS indicated that sulphites are being added illegally to minced meat. However, the dietary modelling indicated that this contributed very little to the overall estimated intake of sulphites. FSANZ is working closely with Australian food regulation enforcement agencies to address this problem. State and Territory health departments are responsible for the enforcement of food laws and they conduct regular surveys of meat products to ensure compliance with food additive permissions contained in the Food Standards Code. FSANZ and the enforcement agencies will continue to target meat manufacturers to reduce illegal addition of sulphites to minced meat.
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