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Benzene in sodas or Benzene in soft drinks

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Michael Mullan View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Michael Mullan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Benzene in sodas or Benzene in soft drinks
    Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:08pm
There is a recent Belgian publication which I will reference at a later time that suggests that some soft drinks still contain high concentrations of benzene. And yes the authors suggest that there may be a relationship between packaging material, acidulants and storage time and the concentration of benzene in samples. However there is insufficient evidence for these putative relationships. The authors simply analysed commercial samples and reported their results.
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marvin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote marvin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:08pm
BTW have you heard that benzene is still a problem and that packaging materail and storage might be important?
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michael View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote michael Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:07pm
I have adapted an article I wrote a few years ago in an attempt to answer your query. Note this is a particularly well-worked area and it is not clear exactly what you need.

WHAT IS BENZENE?

Benzene is an organic compound, a hydrocarbon that has many industrial uses.

WHY IS THERE INTEREST IN BENZENE IN SOFT DRINKS?

Benzene is a potent carcinogen, there is no safe exposure limit, and it should not be present in foods or beverages.
Benzene in bottled water first came to prominence in 1990 in the USA when high concentrations of this compound were detected in Perrier-branded products. Around this time it also became apparent that some soft drinks/ sodas containing sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid contained benzene.

ORIGIN OF BENZENE IN SOFT DRINKS

Excluding the use of contaminated raw materials and addition during processing and packaging the major source of benzene in soft drinks is by the internal reaction of hydroxyl radicals with benzoate.
Gardner and Lawrence (1993)* first demonstrated that hydrogen peroxide produced by the reduction of ascorbic acid can produce hydroxyl radicals that can react with benzoate to give benzene. While not appropriate to go into the detail here, it is noteworthy that metals such as iron and copper were required to catalyse the reduction of ascorbic acid and that the production of benzene was found to be pH dependant; the pH optimum was 2, with a sharp drop in benzene production occurring between pH 3-5. No benzene production was detected at pH 7. Elevated temperatures and light exposure also influenced benzene production.

LEGLISATION

There are regulations in most countries for the maximum permitted levels of benzene in drinking water e.g. benzene at a concentration in excess of 1 part per billion (ppb) or 1µg kg-1 is not permitted in the European Union. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a limit of 10 ppb. There are currently no regulations for the permitted maximum concentration of benzene in soft drinks.

FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY SURVEY OF SOFT DRINKS IN THE UK

The Food Standards Agency published the results of a survey to investigate levels of benzene in 150 soft drinks on sale in the UK in March 2006.
 Benzene was not found in 107 out of the 150 drinks. A further 38 samples had concentrations of benzene between 1 and 10 ppb. Products from four companies who had benzene levels higher than that recommended by the WHO for drinking water were withdrawn from sale.

SIGNIFICANCE OF BENZENE IN SOFT DRINKS TO OVERALL BENZENE INTAKE

Wixipedia contains a good overview of the science and some of the politics of benzene in soft drinks-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene_in_soft_drinks . This article clearly indicates the high intakes coming from cigarette smoke and to a lesser extent breathing in petrol (gas) fumes and puts the worst possible benzene intake scenario from soft drinks into context.

While soft drinks should not contain benzene there is no information to suggest that ingestion of drinks containing low levels of benzene significantly adds to the overall benzene load on people and consequent risk of cancer.


REDUCING BENZENE CONCENTRATION IN SOFT DRINKS

From an industry perspective many companies have reformulated their products and changed their manufacturing practices to eliminate or markedly reduce the potential for benzene production within soft drinks. Reformulation can in some instances be as simple as removing ascorbate. Benzoate can also be removed and replaced with other yeast and mould inhibitors. Thermal processing combined with aseptic packaging can eliminate the need for adding yeast and mould inhibitors.


*Gardner L.K and Lawrence G.D. (1993) Benzene production from decarboxylation of benzoic acid in the presence of ascorbic acid and a transition-metal catalyst.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 41 (5): 693-695.
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QA Manager View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote QA Manager Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:07pm
Sorry for late posting forum was down & busy. Yes sodas use vit c & sod benzoate. Yes benzene is the prob. What is benxene & waht should we do.

Sorry cnt say mre.
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marvin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote marvin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:07pm
Interesting topic.
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Mike Mullan View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Mike Mullan Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:07pm
Firstly I have edited the title of your post to correct a typographical error-benzene is the compound that I think you are interested in.Secondly does your company use ascorbate (vitamin C) and benzoate in the formulation for some or all of your soft drinks (UK and Irish terminology for sodas)?Mike
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QA Manager View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote QA Manager Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 22 Mar 2010 at 11:06pm
Hi allWe make range of fruit flavored sodas and I am worried abourt bezene.What is benze and why the worry. Can we make sodas without benzene.QAM
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