Ben wrote:
> jim wrote:
> <snip>
>> Is sodium benzoate 'health risk free' and easy to get hold of? I
>> never saw this in my Wine makers store here in the UK but that sounds
>> like an awesome option. I don't know why but I presumed that was a
>> chemical you'd find it hard to find for domestic use.
>>
>> Jim
>
> No it is not risk free, it has been linked to problems in the UK and the
> US with carbonated drinks, under certain conditions it can result in the
> production of Benzine (highly carcinogenic),it reacts with ascorbic acid
> (vitamin C) over time, so anything that is kept for any length of time
> or at high temperature is lightly to pose a risk.
> I personally would not use it at all.
> Ben.
>
> NB see:
> http://www.beveragedaily.com/news/ng...ks-fda-benzene
> for some more info.
Ben,

Thanks for your comment and the link. Here's the update on the FDA
study. It's been out since the summer.
http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/benzdata.html

I was and am aware of the possibility of Benzoate being degraded by
Ascorbic acid in the presence of copper or iron ions.

However, the amount of benzene produced in all but a few (high Ascorbic)
products is really quite small... only a few parts per Billion. It is
quite close to the average benzene levels in most cities. This also
compares to the OSHA safety standard for workplace air of 1 part per
_Million_, which is obviously a thousandfold higher. For that matter,
ordinary gasoline is about 1% benzene, roughly 10,000,000 times more,
and people use gas freely, breathing its fumes every time they fill the
car or mow the lawn. The known exposure to benzene from everyday sources
is far greater than any theoretical exposure from a few glasses of wine.

I ran some calculations on the possible exposure to benzene from my
wine. At 1 ppb,it's like a single drop of the stuff in 40,000 Liters of
wine. That's 180 standard 225 L barrels. Considering that I make about
75 Liters of sweet wine each year, I would have to drink it all myself
for the next 530 years to consume that much benzene. To get the
exposure that a cigarette smoker does, I'd have to drink all my wine for
the next 5,000 years. I don't think it's something even remotely worth
worrying about.

Bottom line? Sure, there's the possibility of a tiny amount of benzene
forming as a result of using Benzoate, but the risk associated with it
gets totally lost in the risks of everyday life. Considering what else
is in wine, this is quite insignificant, IMHO.

Thanks again for the input, but it I think needs to be kept in perspective.

Mike McGeough

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