Additives, ADD, and indusrty covering for itself

(NewsTarget) In response to a recent study that linked common soft
drink additive sodium benzoate to increased hyperactivity in
children, the British Soft Drink Association downplayed the
significance of the new findings.

"It should be noted that this study used a mixture of ingredients in
each trial and due to the nature of the research, the effect of
individual colors on the behavior of children surveyed could not be
determined," the association said.

In a study commissioned by the United Kingdom's Food Standards Agency
(FSA) and conducted by researchers from the University of
Southampton, children were fed a fruit drink spiked with a mixture of
common food colorings and preservatives. Both of the mixtures were
found to increase hyperactivity, and both contained sodium benzoate.

Because the effects of the two mixtures were different, the exact
contribution of sodium benzoate to the hyperactivity could not be
determined. Consumer health advocate Mike Adams, author of The Five
Soft Drink Monsters (a guide for quitting the soft drink habit),
responded by saying, "This is like saying that since the health
hazard cannot be assigned to any one particular chemical, all the
chemicals must therefore be safe. The soft drink industry claiming
that these chemical additives do not harm health is like Big Tobacco
claiming cigarette smoke doesn't cause lung cancer," Adams said.

While the beverage industry said that consumers need have no cause
for alarm, the FSA issued as statement advising parents that there
might be "some beneficial effects on [the] the behavior" of
hyperactive children to cutting artificial colorings and
preservatives from their diets.

The new study is only the most recent controversy over sodium
benzoate, has been shown to break down into the carcinogen benzene in
the presence of common soda ingredients citric and ascorbic acid. In
response to concern over the presence of benzene in sodas, many
beverage manufacturers have begun reformulating their products to
reduce benzene formation.

Sodium benzoate is a common preservative in soft drinks because it
suppresses the growth of bacteria and fungi under the acidic
conditions found in carbonated beverages.

The University of Southampton study has been forwarded to the
European Food Safety Authority, which is conducting a review of all
the additives currently used in the European Union.