Intake of Preservatives Linked to Increased Cancer Incidence

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.

Anaïs Hasenböhler, from the Université 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.

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.

“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.

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