French Study Finds Link Between Some Food Preservatives and Higher Hypertension Risk but Cannot Prove Causation

A large French study has associated higher consumption of certain food preservatives with increased risks of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, Fox News reported. Researchers analyzed dietary records from 112,395 adults with an average age of 42 who took part in the NutriNet-Santé project.

Participants reported everything they ate and drank over three-day periods every six months, and researchers tracked health outcomes for an average of nearly eight years.

During that time, 5,544 people developed hypertension and 2,450 experienced cardiovascular disease events. Higher intake of total non-antioxidant preservatives corresponded to a 29 percent greater risk of hypertension and a 16 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Higher intake of total antioxidant preservatives was linked to a 22 percent increase in hypertension risk.

Of the 17 preservative additives consumed by at least 10 percent of participants, eight showed specific 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).

Ascorbic acid was the only preservative associated with higher cardiovascular disease risk. The study examined the additive form used in processed foods, not vitamin C from fruits, vegetables or supplements.

"This is a very important study that puts together what we already know – that preservatives of all kinds raise blood pressure and contribute directly to heart disease and stroke over eight years," Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, told Fox News Digital. " The findings were published in the European Heart Journal.