CFSAN Responds to Benzene in Soft Drinks Issue

In late Feb. 2006, the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Washington, D.C., sent a letter to FDA requesting that FDA issue a warning to the public that soft drinks containing a combination of ascorbic acid and benzoate preservatives might contain benzene. EWG also requested that FDA release test results of the presence of benzene in soft drinks.

The EWG letter posited that FDA had known about the presence of benzene in soft drinks since 1990, and that it withheld the information from the public. The letter also called this situation a "clear heath threat." FDA forwarded the letter to the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN).

In a March 21, 2006 response to EWG, Robert E. Brackett, Ph.D., director, CFSAN, writes: "You have not provided any rationale why the presence of benzene in soft drinks at low parts per billion (ppb) levels should have been considered a clear health threat at that time or should be considered as such a threat now. Both FDA and the Health Protection Branch (HPB) in Canada agreed then, as they agree now, that low ppb levels of benzene found in these products did not, and do not, constitute an imminent health hazard."

The letter of reply goes on to describe FDA's original investigation of this situation in 1990 and soon thereafter. "After learning that benzene was present in some products, research was undertaken by both FDA and industry to understand the factors that contributed to benzene formation," writes Brackett. "We learned that elevated temperature and light can stimulate benzene formation in the presence of benzoate salts and vitamin C, while sugar and EDTA salts inhibit benzene formation. Contrary to your statement that FDA suppressed information, FDA published its findings in 1993. These findings showed both that benzene was detected only at insignificant levels and that trace levels of benzene could occasionally be detected in foods that did not contain benzoates and vitamin C. Earlier, in 1992, HPB published its findings of a survey in which they sampled fruit, fruit juices, fruit drinks and soft drinks with and without added benzoate. Results of HPB's survey were consistent with our findings."

Brackett continues to state that "the vast majority of beverages sampled--including those containing benzoate preservatives and ascorbic acid--contain either no detectable benzene or levels below the 5 ppb limit for drinking water, and do not suggest a safety concern." He notes that FDA will continue to sample beverages to gain more representative data on the current situation, and will release results of the testing once it has a more complete understanding of the current marketplace. FDA is also following up with companies manufacturing products that had detectable levels of benzene in the initial survey.

In early March 2006, the American Beverage Association (ABA), Washington, D.C., also released a statement on this subject. ABA's statement maintains a similar thrust as FDA's letter, but also notes: "Benzene is found widely in the environment. It is found in the air we breathe and in dozens of foods we eat, such as bananas, meats and eggs." The statement also notes that, when formulating a soft drink that contains sodium or potassium benzoate and ascorbic acid (vitamin C), "effective steps can be taken in the production process to mitigate the formation of benzene, even when these ingredients are used together."

Once FDA has completed its survey, it will then determine any necessary action to protect the public health and to ensure that the levels of benzene in soft drinks remain as low as possible.

See /news/2006/02/fda-documents-instigate-a-new-look-at-benzene-in-s.aspx for more information on this subject.