Sodium Benzoate - Wait, Benzo What?
:tap::tap: “Hello, I.. uhm.. I... am.. dandays.” In unison, all 13 of them, each with their glaring eyes fixated on me, seated in a circle of chairs, together with the instructor responded: “Hi, dandays!” A few stretched out hands motioned a wave toward me, I heard a couple of straggling whispers “welcome.” I tried to continue: ”So uh.. it’s uhm...” I’ve never liked hearing the sound of my own voice, though, and the silence in the room is deafening. I cleared my throat a second time and the microphone picked it up - My cough echoed across the PA system. I locked eyes with the guidance counselor, she gave me the nod and in slow motion, I read the movement of her lips, it looked like she said: “you’re...” “doing...” “a great...” “job!”
:deep breath: “Hi, I’m @dandays and it’s been 21 days since my last drink of Pepsi.”
True story! Well, maybe minus the Steemit theatrics. I haven’t had a Pepsi since I did that caramel color article. I ruined it for myself! Now I just look at all of the perfectly aligned, labels facing forward, refrigerated, blue and red, plastic 20 ounce bottles of deliciousness when we exit the market - Look but don’t touch. Sprite’s clear though - Yes! No caramel color in that one. So I’ve had a few Sprite’s these past three weeks and with each plastic bottle of greatness the same ingredient catches my attention: Sodium Benzoate. We consume things we can neither define nor pronounce on a regular basis so the name tag isn’t the weird part - I’m concerned with “(to protect taste).” Ever since that BHT article I know ‘protects taste’ or ‘freshness’ means there’s a bunch of science in there created to preserve shelf life. So I did what I’ve been doing the past couple of months and saved it for today, Friday - Welcome to @foodfightfriday!
iphone 8, Photoshop
So what is it? What is Sodium Benzoate?
It does not occur naturally, it’s synthesized by combining benzoic acid with sodium hydroxide (acid + salt). But when it’s mixed in water, it produces benzoic acid, an acid found naturally in certain fruits such as plums, cranberries or cherries. Sodium Benzoate is used in foods that have an acidic PH such as pickles, salad dressings and fruit juices.
I remember as a young kid helping my grandmother can the Salmon my grandfather and I would catch that day. She would evenly spread a healthy dose of salt all around the top of the cleaned and now can-packed Salmon before she used the press to seal the top of the can with a lid. The salt preserved the salmon’s shelf life. From there, she knew how long she could store the cans until the salmon had to be eaten.
iphone 8, Photoshop, sky dancers (every day)
According to Unesta, an association assigned by the European Union to represent its soft drink interests, “Sodium benzoate is safe and, as normally consumed, has no negative effects on health.” There’s one for the home team! Let’s see what America thinks.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated Sodium Benzoate as ‘generally recognized as safe’ (GRAS). The FDA then enlisted an independent study by The International Programme on Chemical Study where it was concluded that Sodium Benzoate has “no adverse effects on humans.” That’s two for the home team! This is already working out better than caramel color
Alright, let’s get a third set of results. I’ll look into an independent study now and make sure everyone is on the same page before I call this post a wrap. So far, two of the world’s leading opinions arrived at the same conclusion:
I typed “sodium benzoate health risk” into the search bar at DuckDuckGo and they brought me to this organization:
According to this article published by Livestrong dot com in October, 2017; both of those powerhouse opinions are a little on the censored side.
According to their independent study: “The amount of Sodium Benzoate in foods is so low it is unlikely to cause significant side effects in most people.” They did note, however, in 2007, it acted as a trigger for hyperactivity in children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Their study also noted that, by itself, Sodium Benzoate does not contain Benzene, a chemical known to cause leukemia, but it can be formed once it’s combined with ascorbic acid. Vitamin C aka ascorbic acid is found in a large number of soft drinks. The safe level of Benzene for normal drinking water is five parts per billion (ppb) causing some soft drinks to be a potential health concern. It was found that the vast majority of beverages fell below the maximum allowable levels. The products that were above the allowable limit have been reformulated.
All three agencies; Unesta, The FDA and livestrong.com unanimously concluded Sodium Benzoate to be safe for use in foods at a specified amount. They all three suggest you check food and drink labels prior to purchasing a product and to avoid buying soft drinks that list both Ascorbic Acid and Sodium Benzoate on the ingredients list.
Looks like I found a new favorite poison - For now anyway! I’ll try to avoid researching High Fructose Corn Syrup for awhile so I can continue grabbing that bubbly, make my throat burn when I drink it, clear, sugar-loaded, twist cap Sprite as I’m exiting the market.
![CD9867CF-7EFE-4F76-95EF-85DF0452DBB9.jpeg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbQjhauezNgL1uBSZBBH9wdvkwNxVKh8s6uBeacLvJjFw/CD9867CF-7EFE-4F76-95EF-85DF0452DBB9.jpeg)
I quit drinking everything besides water ahd black coffee
With the rare rare rare glass coke wity a burger maybe twice a year. It’s sll chemical garbage
You’re ahead of the game my friend! My wife is ahead of the game, too, water only. More power to both of you, I’m tryin!! I never will stack a sofa in our fridge, it isn’t somethig I regularly do. But I bet about once every 10 days’ish, I’m twisting that cap dude.
Black coffee, agreed! I like agave in mine most of the time, otherwise just black. No sugar ‘anymore!’
Thanks for stopping by @geneeverett, it’s always a pleasure to hear from you. And what in the real F is up with the “M” wOrd?!
M word?
Marquette... Markette!! Danget! Ya, the M wOrd. Lol
You’re doing great! Hold off on your high fructose corn syrup research… enjoy your sprites just a little longer. I’m shocked that it sounds like sodium benzoate is not that bad for you (could it be?). Could it be that the food industry isn’t trying to systematically kill us after all? I know, now I’m getting carried away… good research @dandays! You rock :)
I’m glad you think so - You’re beautiful! Digging into it actually made me tired, that’s a new one. You’re the gangster chef though, you killed it with your Birthday Cake today, great job!
iheartu all the time @puravidaville.
I love you too! Both of us wrote ourselves tired… I guess that means we are watching a movie tonight… muah
Congratulation!!! My wife was at one bottle a day before she met me, and we completely eradicated the problem few years back with no side effect, except the first year of stopping i know she was smuggling bottles to work, but I can't really blame her she got pregnant and the cravings can make it hard!!
Benzene is not the only issue with drinking any pespi/sprite/coke. fizzy drinks are bad for your teeth, mental health (high sugar intake cause depression), age (sugar damages skin cell), heart, livers , kidney, bones, the list goes on...
I am such a party pooper :)
You’re exactly right. I won’t
stalkstock the fridge with them but I do find myself reaching for a 20 ouncer once every week’ish - Only the clear ones!I do my best to counteract all the internal damage the poisons are doing to us by keeping my cardio and training in A+ condition. That’s all I can do other than completely kick the habit and I’m workin on it dude. I’ll let you know as soon as I got it kicked!
But as for the dentist.. Man I’m not sure about that, my dentist LOVES me! Loves, loves, loves me. They have my insurance on file, send me birthday cards once a year and they’ve never told me to stop drinking soda.... 😉
Thanks for stopping by @edprivat, the pleasure’s always mine.
edit: wait’ll you see this comedy thing I’m working on. You’ll love the music aspect of it! Or maybe it’s just me???? Happy Sunday ya’all!
"That’s all I can do other than completely kick the habit and I’m workin on it dude." That's already more than what most people do I was not trying to fat shame you :) One day you will see, you'll be saying " I can't believe I was drinking a bottle a day"
"But as for the dentist" That's hilarious hahahaa. Though I would never judge anyone's teeth knowing that mine are in disarray.
Have a great week !
Edit: let me know when you comedy is out !!
Thank you for the information you shared. What is the difference between being a little censored or a lot censored? Is that the difference between being a nazi or a jew? Steemit is the most uncensored so far as i can tell. Who is doing the censoring? They have my best interests at heart surely. There is no need for decentralization. Corporations are people too with feelings and compassion.
This has been a simple comment from an information warrior in the @informationwar.
HFCS should have been the first substance studied since it is the one getting a name change to hide. Maybe the mouse on the same choloric intake did not gain twice the amount of weight as the mouse on regular sugar? It was just another abhorrent animal study so maybe we should just throw them all out. I didnt care about the torture of an animal because I'm not an animal.
@naturalnews is doing a great deal of studies on these types of topics. Dang I guess we cant use their facts because they were banned from social media. So much for the bill of rights.
The difference between a lot and a little, when censorship is the focal point, one has three more letters than the other.
Thanks a lot for reading my post, I’m learning this information as I go, I’m having a good time doing it. I’m glad you liked it.
But all that aside, and this isn’t a centralized secret, no censorship required: That was an awesome response!! So you don’t drink Sprite?? Kidding.. Kidding.
Thanks for stopping by @nutritree!
I have actually stopped almost all consumption of soda. Once in a blue moon I am unable to help myself. Censorship is only good for ones self.
I did learn something about sodium benzoate. I like to drink acerbic acid much more in my water after watching a video about ascorbic acid intravenous therapy.
As always stay free and enjoy Moringa Oleifera the Miracle nutritree. Or just "The Miracle Tree" by Monica Marcu.
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Good stuff man! Congrats on improving your health. It'll get easier and easier to reject the chemical crap as you wean yourself off of it. Your body will just reject it and it won't taste good.
The Best to you man!
Thanks a lot for noticing, I appreciate that! I have to admit, those 20 ounce bottles are hard to pass up at the grocery store. But we went grocery shopping yesterday and I managed to walk out without one.
Thanks for stopping by @michaelmcawesome, happy Tuesday!
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❤ My Pleasure @dandays ❤
Please stop researching @dandays, we wont be allowed to breathe or drink water soon. Oh crap nevermind.
They use to have crystal Pepsi, wonder whats in that?![m92380689423_1.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/640x0/https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPcjzSGdhzK4Ae6a837SnGSQwSkyerqHBrE65fDyZHCUN/m92380689423_1.jpg)
This is all new to me too, I promise! Puravida and I were just talking about that actually. When I get into researching like that, I don’t know where it’s taking me. So ya, that caramel color on, I was pretty bummed out.. “Danget!” So im much happier with the results this time - There’s a 20 oz. Sprite in the fridge right now actually for celebratory purposes.
I bet that Crystal Pepsi is safer than a Sprite AND a regular Pepsi. Pepsi doesn’t ave citrus like Sprite so Sodium Benzoate technically cant activate anything harmful. How cool is that?? I wouldn’t have been able to tell you that this time last week. Haha!
I hope ya’all are having a great weekend, thanks for stopping by @weirdheadaches.
edit So it’s actually made me question all of the clear sodas that were out in the past 10-20 years. It’s as though all of the big companies actually attempted to remove the poison from their product and put clear drinks on the shelves. I’m assuming sales declined ‘or something.’
Lol :).
I saw they brought back the clear pepsi.
the soda is very fresh ... great
Nooooppe! I’m not falling for that one again. 👊