French Study Links Preservatives to Higher Blood Pressure

Eating foods that contain common preservative additives may raise the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease, according to a large French study published Thursday in the European Heart Journal.

The research, led by scientists at INSERM and the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, followed 112,395 adults in France who were enrolled in the NutriNet-Santé cohort. The participants reported everything they ate and drank over three-day periods every six months, allowing researchers to examine the ingredients in their diets in detail and track health outcomes over an average of seven to eight years.

The study found that 99.5% of participants consumed at least one food preservative during the first two years of follow-up. People who ate the highest amounts of so-called non-antioxidant preservatives had a 29% higher risk of hypertension and a 16% higher risk of cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke and angina, compared with those who consumed the least. Those who consumed the most antioxidant preservatives had a 22% higher risk of hypertension.

Researchers also examined 17 widely used preservatives and identified eight that were linked specifically to high blood pressure. They were potassium sorbate, known as E202; potassium metabisulfite, E224; sodium nitrite, E250; ascorbic acid, E300; sodium ascorbate, E301; sodium erythorbate, E316; citric acid, E330; and rosemary extract, E392. Ascorbic acid was also linked to cardiovascular disease.

The findings are drawing attention because potassium metabisulfite, or E224, is used in wine and other fermented beverages as a preservative and antioxidant. Sulfites are already familiar to many consumers because they are listed on labels in many markets and are often discussed in relation to wine sensitivity. The new study does not single out wine as a cause of disease, but it adds to a broader debate over how food additives may affect long-term health when consumed regularly as part of processed foods and drinks.

Anaïs Hasenböhler, a doctoral researcher involved in the study, said food preservatives are used in hundreds of thousands of industrially processed foods and that there has been limited evidence in humans on their cardiovascular effects. She said the work was, to the researchers’ knowledge, the first to examine links between a wide range of preservatives and cardiovascular health.

Dr. Mathilde Touvier, another lead researcher on the project, said the results should be interpreted with caution because the study was observational and cannot prove cause and effect. Still, she said the detailed dietary data and adjustment for other risk factors made the findings important enough to warrant a review by regulators such as the European Food Safety Authority and the Food and Drug Administration.

The researchers said their results support current advice to favor fresh or minimally processed foods and avoid unnecessary additives. They are now studying whether food additives and ultra-processed foods affect inflammation, oxidative stress, blood markers tied to metabolism and the gut microbiome, which could help explain how these substances might influence disease risk.