BENZOIC ACID: Expert validates safety of Nigerian soft drinks

Until recently when the Federal Ministry of Health came to clear the air and certify that some popular soft drinks in the country are safe to drink, there had been lots of unfounded rumours in the social media concerning their safety.

Going by the position of the Federal government on the matter, coupled with the confirmation of the safety of these soft drinks by food scientists in the country under the aegis of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), Nigerians have been urged to disregard such rumours as they lacked scientific backing and evidence.

Speaking at a sensitisation exercise in Lagos on Tuesday aimed at raising awareness on the importance and safety of benzoic acid as a global food preservative, First Vice National President of NIFST, Mr. Oluwole Toye, said benzoic acid is globally certified by the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) as a safe preservative used generally in food and beverage products around the world.

Toye stated that Codex, an organ established by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) to set international standards, codes of practice and guidelines relating to food production and safety, recommended 600mg/kg as international standard in the use of benzoic acid in soft drinks.

The food scientist reiterated that benzoic acid all over the world, is an acceptable food preservative used to ward-off bacteria and limit growth of microbes on foods.

He noted that with reference to the Codex standard and other relevant documents, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) as the standard setting body in the country, in consultation with technical experts and relevant stakeholders, elaborated the standard of benzoic acid in soft drinks to be at 250mg/kg based on the national climatic and storage conditions.

Throwing more light on the safety of the soft drinks in question, Toye pointed out that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) which regulates food products in the country, has done its work well by ensuring that manufacturers of the soft drinks adhered to national and international standards in the amount of benzoic acid used in its products.

Contrary to speculations, Toye revealed that even the amount of benzoic acid in the soft drinks in question was below 200mg/kg which was still in conformity with the Nigerian standards, stressing that the amount of benzoic acid in Nigerian soft drinks is not poisonous to health.

According to him, that the United Kingdom used 150mg/kg quantity of benzoic acid in its soft drinks and Nigeria used 250mg/kg does not make that of Nigeria poisonous to health as both countries were guided by their respective climate conditions and were also within the 600mg/kg limit recommended by Codex.

Toye further revealed that countries like the United States of America, Canada and Asian countries have high benzoic acid in their soft drinks than Nigeria and even exceed the 600mg/kg limit recommended by Codex.

“In the United States and Canada, the benzoic acid in their soft drinks is 1000mg/kg. In Nigeria, it is 250mg/kg.

In Asian countries, the standard is 300mg/kg. It is important to note that every country has the right to set its own standards. And you set standards based on your environment which must align with Codex”, he explained.

While calling for massive consumer education in Nigeria to guard against such rumours, Toye said: “Nigeria and the UK, just like every other country are at liberty to set their respective national standards referencing the Codex standard and taking into consideration their peculiar environmental and other realities.”

On the issue of benzene formation, he noted: “The science of benzene formation from interaction between benzoic acid and ascorbic acid is based on the provision of specific conditions such as presence of ultra-violet light and high temperature of about 60 degrees Celsius. We all know that science is fact based and there has not been any reported incidence or that these two conditions are prevalent in the Nigerian environment.”