Are preservatives bad for you and should you avoid them?

 There has been much public concern that some food additives cause adverse reactions, although careful investigations show that it is mostly based on misconception rather than on identifiable adverse reactions. Preservatives have rarely been shown to cause true allergic (immunological) reactions. Among the food additives reported to cause adverse reactions are some preservatives from the group of sulphiting agents, which include several inorganic suplhite additive (E220-228), and benzoic acid and its derivatives (E210-213), may trigger asthma characterised by breathing difficulties, shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing in sensitive (e.g. asthmatic) individuals.5,7 However, in general, due to stringent EU legislation governing the safety assessment of additives, preservatives can be generally regarded as safe for most consumers.

The European Parliament together with the European Council has laid down a detailed labelling system for food additives to enable consumers to make informed choices with regard to foods containing preservatives.15 Legislation also stipulates that additives are labelled on the packaging of food products by their category (preservative, colour, antioxidant, etc) with either their name or E-number.