Sorbates
(preservatives 200-203)
|
This factsheet is intended for people who are
already following a diet that is free of additives and low in salicylates,
amines and flavour enhancers (failsafe). |
Introduction: Increasing use of sorbates (preservatives
200-203)
Are you sensitive to sorbates?
Products that would failsafe except for sorbates
Other foods that may contain sorbates
References and further reading
Introduction:
Increasing use of sorbates (preservatives 200-203)
Until recently, sorbates didn’t bother failsafers because they weren’t
in any foods we could eat. However, if you read labels regularly, you will have
noticed that sorbate preservatives are creeping into all kinds of foods, mostly
as sorbic acid (200) and potassium sorbate (202).
Sorbic acid and potassium sorbate are used in a number of foods
describing themselves as ‘ natural’. Although sorbates occur naturally in some
fruits, for commercial use they are manufactured synthetically, so it is
misleading to describe them as ‘natural’. They are one of the five groups of
preservatives listed in the RPA Elimination Diet to be avoided, along with
benzoates, sulphites, nitrates/nitrites and propionates.
Sorbates have been associated with asthma, eczema, contact dermatitis,
eye irritation, nasal irritation and burning mouth syndrome (in medical
journals, see below) and the full range of food intolerance reactions including
irritable bowel symptoms and children’s behaviour problems.
Are you sensitive
to sorbates?
If you have never done a sorbate challenge, you could follow the RPA
rules for challenge: wait for 3 symptom free days in a row, eat 100 grams per
day of preserved cottage cheese or similar every day for a week or until you
see a reaction, while keeping a food and symptom diary. We would love to hear about your reaction to
sorbates (which product, which symptoms; to suedengate@ozemail.com.au).
Products that
would failsafe except for sorbates include:
·
Philadelphia Cream Cheese (in tubs)
·
Plain cottage cheese (with sorbate
preservative)
·
Reduced fat spreads (read label
carefully for other additives)
·
Queen brand Writing Icing with
natural colours and flavours (seemingly all natural)
·
Woolworths fresh pikelets
·
Golden Pikelet Bites, Pikelets and
pancakes
·
Mr Lee’s Kitchen Fresh rice noodles
·
Double Merino Brand Shanghai Wonton
skins (wheat flour, water, salt, 202)
·
Double Merino Brand Gow gee pastry
(same ingredients as above)
Other foods that may contain
sorbates:
·
Bread (e.g. Tip Top Muffins, also
contain vinegar)
·
Flat breads and tortillas (e.g. Old
El Paso, also contain other preservatives)
·
Bakery products such as cakes,
pikelets, pancakes, waffles
·
Flour products such as fresh pasta
and noodles
·
Cheese, Cream cheese, cottage
cheese, cheese slices, cheese sticks
·
Reduced fat cheeses and spreads
·
Yoghurts
·
Drinks including fruit juices,
cordial, brewed soft drinks, wine
·
Fruit syrups, preserved figs,
cherries
·
Margarines, spreads and dips
Sorbates are also widely used in pharmaceuticals including tablets,
syrups, eye, ear and nose drops, contact lens solutions; lotions and cosmetics;
dermatitis or other local irritation caused by these products is well
documented
[572] The Great Philly
Incident (August 2007)
Over the course of a couple of weeks in September 2006, our daughter
became progressively more lethargic, withdrawn and emotionally fragile (cried
easily for no particular reason). She was getting upset quickly in a teary way
and blowing things out of proportion. After the holidays her teacher commented
she thought it was unusual for Lucy to be so lethargic, quiet, teary, keeping
to herself and not playing, not interacting. As an example, the teacher had
asked all the kids to pack away the books. Normally Lucy would do this fairly
promptly but she just sat there mesmerised in her own little world and didn't
appear to hear the teacher. The teacher came over to her after all the other
kids had left the area of the classroom and said gently to her ‘Lucy it's time
to pack away now please.’ Lucy just dissolved into tears and it took a while
for her to regain composure. The teacher said it was very out of the ordinary
for Lucy who was usually full of energy, vibrant, bubbly, friendly and always
very, very happy.
That night, after ruling out illness, and with much careful
consideration and dissection of her diet and environment, I discovered from
Sue's website that Kraft had introduced preservatives (sorbic acid, 200) in the
tubs of Philadelphia Cream Cheese tubs. Lucy eats this on a daily basis on her
sandwiches and sometimes as a dip as she had done for years. I rang Kraft and
they informed me that they had only just started putting this ingredient in a
couple of months earlier. After checking old containers I figured that she had
consumed at least two tubs. The change in her demeanour had been gradual but
still clearly noticeable by us as well as her teachers as this was not the Lucy
we knew. Once we switched to the preservative free Philly blocks, she became
‘better’ within a few days and had returned to her usual energetic, happy,
amenable self within a week. I now check labels every time, even if it is
something I have bought many times before. – by email
[801] Potassium sorbate makes
my son clingy, crying (June 2009)
I have a 6 year old son who I already knew was intolerant to some foods.
He has periods of eczema (which we have been able to control with his diet) and
we have avoided these things for years. Luckily, because he was basically born
with eczema, I had been very careful about introducing foods. I started giving
him crumpets for breakfast when he was 2. He would be fine after eating them,
however when he woke from his sleep he would be screaming and hitting me, very
violent and uncontrollable. I initially thought it was hunger, as I found that
when I gave him something to eat he would calm down. Anyway, to cut a long
story short. I found out about preservative 282 and cut it out completely. He
was normal again!!
On and off over the years I discovered other things that affected him,
so I added those to my list of things to avoid. A few months ago we went over
to
[800] 200, 160b, 320: these
“no-no’s” cause cramping and diarrhea (June 2009)
I am a 43 mother and have done the RPA elim diet. I have Colitis that
was triggered by a single episode of food poisoning ten years ago. It took a
long time to get a diagnosis of microscopic colitis. For a long time I was told
that it was irritable bowel. Finally a colonoscopy and biopsy showed it - a
very under-diagnosed condition. My big 3 "no-no's" are: annatto 160b,
synthetic antioxidants such as BHA 320, and sorbates. All of those cause cramping and diarrhoea. –
Kate, by email
[797] Behaviour and
night terror induced by potassium sorbate (202) in Panamax (June 2009)
When my son had
a nasty chest infection/bronchitis I gave him crushed up Panamax paracetamol
4-hourly for a couple of days, as well as the inners of amoxil capsules.
A couple of
days later, his behaviour was absolutely shocking and it culminated in him having
a night terror one evening, the most severe one he has had since being failsafe
since last September.
I knew
something was going on, and I decided to check up about Panamax – and
discovered it has potassium sorbate (202) in it. We have not yet done any
challenges on additives as we already avoid dairy and salicylates, so decided
to pretty much stay additive-free. However, we do seem to be okay with moderate
amounts of pure MSG and amines.
I strongly
suspect that his behaviour and night terror were induced by the preservative
202. What angers me more is that I was completely unaware of the existence of
the preservative in this product, due to the lack of these medicine companies
having to label their products. Our kids are already sick when we need to give
these drugs to them, and they need to get better, but how can they when their
body is also trying to fight against an artificial preservative?
Even when I
asked at the chemist for a preservative-free paracetamol, they were not able to
tell me what was in the products they sold. If only we could have good
information about what is in these medical items, ie. through labelling. I
don’t accept the excuse that there isn’t enough room on the packaging – if a
box of soap can list its numerous chemical ingredients, so should a box of pain
relief or any other medicine.
Please use our
experience in your endeavours to fight for better information labelling on
medicines – it’s our kid’s future. – Joanne, Vic
Update: this
reader was using an old box of Panamax. The formulation hasn’t changed but the
labelling has: Panamax boxes now list potassium sorbate on the label. For young
children, ask for our recipe for additive-free children’s paracetamol. (We
would like to hear any other reports of reactions to sorbates – email suedengate@ozemail.com.au)
[864] 200: Severe contact dermatitis reaction to
sorbates (200-203) (November 2009)
My son is now
almost 4. He has always eaten happily from
a wide range of food groups. We generally try to avoid feeding him (much)
processed food, but since we travel a lot, it is inevitable that we also eat on
the run. He was just under 12 months when he had his first reaction - to eating
cream cheese. The effect was instantaneous and obvious: raised, red rashes on
mouth, face, fingers, belly - anywhere that the food made contact. Other common
allergens (like dairy, wheat, soy, nuts) clearly were no problem, so it only
took another couple of incidents for us to figure out preservative 202 was the
culprit. Since then we have mostly been able to avoid it, but it does crop up
when we're not expecting it: like in some yoghurts (in NZ), margarines and
so-called some 100% orange juices (the 100% claim is on the front of the
bottle, but preservative 202 is listed in the ingredients). Again, the reaction
is obvious - and although it causes some discomfort, the reaction doesn't seem
to pose any obvious health risk.
As an aside,
after spending some time this evening trying to research 202 allergies on the
internet, I am surprised how very little information is available on it. Your
website was one of the few to contain any information. Thanks for the tips
about sorbates being also present in pharmaceutical products, since I had no
idea about this. – Kate, by email (It is illegal to say 100% juice if there is
a listed preservative! The ACCC has prosecuted several companies over that, see
http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/343977.
If you'd like me to act on it, let me know the name of the company. It is only
through consumer complaints that change will occur.- S)
References and further reading
Swain A and others, The Simplified Elimination Diet,
Genton C, Frei PC, Pécoud A. Value of oral provocation tests to aspirin
and food additives in the routine investigation of asthma and chronic
urticaria. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1985 Jul;76(1):40-5.
Cho JH and others, Laryngoscope. Long-term use of preservatives on rat
nasal respiratory mucosa: effects of benzalkonium chloride and potassium
sorbate, 2000;110(2 Pt 1):312-7. These
researchers tested preservatives that are often used in nasal drops, eyedrops
and cosmetics on rats and concluded that even a low-concentration solution of
preservatives can lead to nasal lesions.
Josephson JE, Caffery B. Sorbic acid revisited. J Am Optom Assoc. 1986
;57(3):188-9. In this study, fifteen percent of 135 contact lens wearing
patients reacted with an adverse ocular response to sorbic acid in their
contact lens solution.
Le Coz CJ, Abensour M. Occupational contact dermatitis from potassium
sorbate in milk transformation plant. Contact Dermatitis. 2005;53(3):176-7.
Clemmensen O, Hjorth N. Contact Dermatitis. Perioral contact urticaria
from sorbic acid and benzoic acid in a salad dressing. 1982;8(1):1-6. Contact
urticaria was observed in a kindergarten in 18 of 20 children following the
intake and accidental perioral application of a mayonnaise salad cream.
Göransson K, Lidén S. Contact allergy to sorbic acid and Unguentum
Merck. Contact Dermatitis. 1981;7(5):277.
Fisher AA. Cutaneous reactions to sorbic acid and potassium sorbate.
Cutis. 1980;25(4):350, 352, 423.
Haustein UF. Burning mouth syndrome due to nicotinic acid esters and
sorbic acid. Contact Dermatitis. 1988;19(3):225-6.
More information
For symptoms of food intolerance, we recommend a trial of the RPAH
elimination diet - free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour
enhancers, and with optional removal of dairy foods and wheat or gluten,
depending on severity of symptoms - preferably supervised by a dietitian. Write
to confoodnet@ozemail.com.au for
our list of supportive dietitians, and see Failsafe Eating.
Thanks to Kathleen Daalmeyer for the supermarket research.
The
information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your
doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation, consult
a dietician with an interest in food intolerance. You can find a supportive
dietitian through the Dietitians Association of
© Sue Dengate update November
2009
