Common food additives linked to high blood pressure and heart disease

Researchers analyzed detailed diet records from 112,395 French adults in the NutriNet‑Santé cohort, tracking three‑day food diaries every six months and following participants for about seven to eight years to link preservative exposure with blood pressure and cardiovascular outcomes. Preservative consumption was nearly universal (99.5% in the first two years). Intake was categorized into antioxidant and non‑antioxidant preservatives, and outcomes included incident hypertension and cardiovascular events (heart attack, stroke, angina). The analysis adjusted for common risk factors but was observational, so associations do not prove causation.

Higher intake of certain preservatives correlated with substantially increased risk: people with the highest consumption of non‑antioxidant preservatives had 29% higher odds of hypertension and 16% higher odds of cardiovascular disease, while highest antioxidant preservative intake was linked to a 22% higher hypertension risk. Eight specific additives showed associations with hypertension - potassium sorbate (E202), potassium metabisulphite (E224), sodium nitrite (E250), ascorbic acid (E300), sodium ascorbate (E301), sodium erythorbate (E316), citric acid (E330) and rosemary extracts (E392) - with ascorbic acid also tied to cardiovascular disease. Authors suggest biological pathways such as oxidative stress, pancreatic effects and gut microbiota changes, and call for regulatory re‑evaluation and greater emphasis on unprocessed or minimally processed foods.