Sodium benzoate

MeaganG11 · April 2012

So I'm drinking this lovely ginger ale, to combat my queasiness, and I start reading the ingredients, as I seem to do religiously these days, and the preservative sodium benzoate throws up a red flag in my brain. Searches on Google are inconclusive as to potential harm to baby during pregnancy.

Thoughts, experiences, words of anti-paranoia?

rmaxim · April 2012

Soda may not be that great for you but I've never heard of any warnings from any doctor about avoiding soda except to avoid caffeine! So I think you should be fine

smileytr@excite.com · April 2012

If it makes you feel better, I'm a chemist, and I can tell you that sodium benzoate is a safe chemical for humans. It has an LD50 with rats of 4100 mg/kg, meaning you would have to eat 1.8 grams of sodium benzoate for every pound you weigh for it to have any toxic effects. A 100 lb person would have to eat 180 grams in one day to have a 50% chance of having toxic effects. (You would never be able to eat that much in one day.)

Just for comparison, this is about the same toxicity level as normal table salt.

Hope this helps!

MeaganG11 · April 2012

That does make me feel better - thank you girls!

NeverKnew · May 2012

smileytr@excite.com:

If it makes you feel better, I'm a chemist, and I can tell you that sodium benzoate is a safe chemical for humans. It has an LD50 with rats of 4100 mg/kg, meaning you would have to eat 1.8 grams of sodium benzoate for every pound you weigh for it to have any toxic effects. A 100 lb person would have to eat 180 grams in one day to have a 50% chance of having toxic effects. (You would never be able to eat that much in one day.)

Just for comparison, this is about the same toxicity level as normal table salt.

Hope this helps!

We should grab a beer sometime. I'm a food scientist - and I approve of all the logic and reason put forth in this post. Was going to come on and say the same thing, but I think you said it better!

smileytr@excite.com · May 2012

NeverKnew:
smileytr@excite.com:

If it makes you feel better, I'm a chemist, and I can tell you that sodium benzoate is a safe chemical for humans. It has an LD50 with rats of 4100 mg/kg, meaning you would have to eat 1.8 grams of sodium benzoate for every pound you weigh for it to have any toxic effects. A 100 lb person would have to eat 180 grams in one day to have a 50% chance of having toxic effects. (You would never be able to eat that much in one day.)

Just for comparison, this is about the same toxicity level as normal table salt.

Hope this helps!

We should grab a beer sometime. I'm a food scientist - and I approve of all the logic and reason put forth in this post. Was going to come on and say the same thing, but I think you said it better!

Thanks! I'd love to chat "shop" sometime!

KatyDidlettes · May 2012

Also, on a side note, ginger ale has no ginger in it unless you get the natural food version. So it really wont help morning sickness any more than seltzer water; I mean, whatever works for you, go for it! But it doesnt have the ginger-benefits...

MeaganG11 · May 2012

KatyDidlettes:
Also, on a side note, ginger ale has no ginger in it unless you get the natural food version. So it really wont help morning sickness any more than seltzer water; I mean, whatever works for you, go for it! But it doesnt have the ginger-benefits...

I buy a version from my local health food store that has real ginger in it, but I ran out and was desperate so I bought some from a gas station up the street to get me through the night (and started label reading only after I started drinking it, which is where my question came from). You're right, though, I think it was the carbonation that helped more than anything

Sodium benzoate

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