What is Sodium Benzoate?
Sodium benzoate is the sodium salt of benzoic acid. It is most commonly known as a preservative. The main uses of sodium benzoate are as a food preservative (mostly carbonated drinks, salad dressings, fruit juices, jams, pickles, and condiments). It is also used in antiseptics, mouthwash, silver polish, cough syrups, and as an intermediate in dye manufacture and in the production of pharmaceuticals. It is also used in fireworks as a fuel in whistle mix. You will see it labeled on products as E211 or sodium benzoate. It is also called benzoate of soda.
It can be produced by reacting sodium hydroxide with benzoic acid. Sodium benzoate naturally occurs in apples, plums/prunes, cranberries, ripe cloves, and cinnamon. Sodium benzoate is often used as a preservative because it is effective for killing bacteria, fungi, and yeast.
Sodium benzoate is a type of salt that may occur naturally in some foods but is more likely to be chemically produced and added as a preservative to foods. When used as a preservative, sodium benzoate is typically added to foods in small amounts only. If too much is added, food may take on a very bitter taste. The reason you will note sodium benzoate listed in the ingredients of so many foods is because it works very well at killing bacteria, yeast and fungi. You will most commonly see it used as a preservative in foods with a high acid content, since sodium benzoate will only work when the pH balance of foods is less than 3.6. It is therefore effective in most sodas, vinegar, fruit juice, and in mixed ingredients like salad dressing. It is additionally used to stop the fermentation process in wines. Sodium benzoate naturally occurs in several fruits like apples, plums and cranberries. A few sweet spices contain small amounts of sodium benzoate, including cloves and cinnamon. The prese
