Risk for overall, breast, and prostate cancer increased in association with higher intake of several preservatives<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter<\/b>
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FRIDAY, Jan. 9, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Intake of preservatives is associated with increased cancer incidence, according to a study published online Jan. 7 in The BMJ<\/em>.<\/p>\n Ana\u00efs Hasenb\u00f6hler, from the Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Paris Nord in France, and colleagues conducted a prospective cohort study involving 105,260 participants aged 15 years and older (mean age, 42 years; 78.7 percent women) without prevalent cancer who completed at least two 24-hour dietary records at baseline to examine the association between food additive preservative intake and cancer incidence.<\/p>\n Overall, 4,226 participants received a diagnosis of incident cancer during a mean follow-up of 7.57 years. The researchers found associations for higher intakes of several preservatives with higher cancer incidence: total non-antioxidants with overall cancer and breast cancer (hazard ratio for higher consumers versus nonconsumers or lower consumers, 1.16 and 1.22, respectively); total sorbates, specifically potassium sorbate with overall cancer and breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.14 and 1.26, respectively); total sulfites with overall cancer (hazard ratio, 1.12); potassium metabisulfite with overall cancer and breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.11 and 1.20, respectively); sodium nitrite with prostate cancer (hazard ratio, 1.32); potassium nitrite with overall and breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.13 and 1.22, respectively); total acetates with overall and breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.15 and 1.25, respectively); acetic acid with overall cancer (hazard ratio, 1.12); and sodium erythorbate with overall and breast cancer (hazard ratios, 1.12 and 1.21, respectively). No associations with cancer incidence were seen for 11 of the 17 individually studied preservatives.<\/p>\n “These findings may have important public health implications given the ubiquitous use of these additives in a wide range of foods and beverages,” the authors write.<\/p>\n