(OT)Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health

[Guest guest]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,275736,00.html

Report: Soda May Seriously Harm Your Health

Monday, May 28, 2007

You may want to put that soda can down.

A common preservative found in drinks such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Dr. Pepper,

Fanta and Diet Pepsi may cause serious cell damage, according to a report in

Britain's The Independent.

Sodium benzoate has the ability to switch off vital parts of a person's DNA,

according to research from a British university.

The problem is usually associated with aging and alcohol abuse, but new

findings show that drinking soda with the preservative can eventually lead to cirrhosis of the liver

and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

Click here to read the full story in The Independent.(I

copied and pasted the article below)

Sodium benzoate, which derives from benzoic acid, has been used for years by

the carbonated drinks industry to prevent mold from developing in soft drinks.

The ingredient has been the subject of concern on cancer, because when mixed

with Vitamin C, it turns into a carcinogenic substance called benzene, the

Independent reported.

Last year, a Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks found high

levels in four brands that were removed from store shelves.

" These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the

mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out

altogether, " said Piper, a professor of molecular biology and

biotechnology.

here is the complete article that is cited above:

http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article2586652.ece

Caution: Some

soft drinks may seriously harm your health

Expert links

additive to cell damage

By

Hickman, Consumer Affairs Correspondent

Published: 27

May 2007

A new health

scare erupted over soft drinks last night amid evidence they may cause serious

cell damage. Research from a British university suggests a common preservative

found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital

parts of DNA.

The problem -

more usually associated with ageing and alcohol abuse - can eventually lead to

cirrhosis of the liver and degenerative diseases such as Parkinson's.

The findings

could have serious consequences for the hundreds of millions of people

worldwide who consume fizzy drinks. They will also intensify the controversy

about food additives, which have been linked to hyperactivity in children.

Concerns centre

on the safety of E211, known as sodium benzoate, a preservative used for

decades by the £74bn global carbonated drinks industry. Sodium benzoate derives

from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large

quantities to prevent mould in soft drinks such as Sprite, Oasis and Dr Pepper.

It is also added to pickles and sauces.

Sodium benzoate

has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with

the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic

substance. A Food Standards Agency survey of benzene in drinks last year found

high levels in four brands which were removed from sale.

Now, an expert

in ageing at Sheffield University, who has been working on sodium benzoate

since publishing a research paper in 1999, has decided to speak out about

another danger. Professor Piper, a professor of molecular biology and

biotechnology, tested the impact of sodium benzoate on living yeast cells in his

laboratory. What he found alarmed him: the benzoate was damaging an important

area of DNA in the " power station " of cells known as the

mitochondria.

He told The

Independent on Sunday: " These chemicals have the ability to cause

severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally

inactivate it: they knock it out altogether.

" The

mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as

happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction

very seriously. And there is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied

to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative

diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing. "

The Food

Standards Agency (FSA) backs the use of sodium benzoate in the UK and it has

been approved by the European Union but last night, MPs called for it to

investigate urgently.

Norman Baker,

the Liberal Democrat chair of Parliament's all-party environment group said:

" Many additives are relatively new and their long-term impact cannot be

certain. This preservative clearly needs to be investigated further by the

FSA. "

A review of

sodium benzoate by the World Health Organisation in 2000 concluded that it was

safe, but it noted that the available science supporting its safety was

" limited " .

Professor Piper,

whose work has been funded by a government research council, said tests

conducted by the US Food and Drug Administration were out of date.

" The food

industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are complete

safe, " he said. " By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety

tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you

can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago. "

He advised

parents to think carefully about buying drinks with preservatives until the

quantities in products were proved safe by new tests. " My concern is for

children who are drinking large amounts, " he said.

Coca-Cola and

Britvic's Pepsi Max and Diet Pepsi all contain sodium benzoate. Their makers

and the British Soft Drinks Association said they entrusted the safety of

additives to the Government.