Certain Combinations of Food Additives May Increase Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

WEDNESDAY, April 16, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Two widely consumed food additive mixtures may increase type 2 diabetes incidence, according to a study published online April 8 in PLOS Medicine.

Marie Payen de la Garanderie, from the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, and colleagues identified the most common food additive mixtures and investigated their associations with type 2 diabetes incidence. The analysis included 108,643 participants from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort followed for a mean 7.7 years.

The researchers found that two of the five identified food additive mixtures were associated with higher type 2 diabetes incidence, including the mixture of modified starches, pectin, guar gum, carrageenan, polyphosphates, potassium sorbates, curcumin, and xanthan gum (hazard ratio per an increment of one standard deviation of the nonnegative matrix factorization mixture score, 1.08) and the mixture of citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, sulphite ammonia caramel, acesulfame-K, aspartame, sucralose, arabic gum, malic acid, carnauba wax, paprika extract, anthocyanins, guar gum, and pectin (hazard ratio, 1.13).

“The findings suggest that several emblematic additives present in many products are often consumed together and that certain mixtures are associated with a higher risk of this disease,” de la Garanderie said in a statement. “These substances may therefore represent a modifiable risk factor, paving the way for strategies to prevent type 2 diabetes.”

Abstract/Full Text