Food Preservatives

Hi guys, I could really use some help understanding some food preservatives commonly used in commercial food production. If anyone with a solid undersatnding of preservatives such as Potassium Sorbate and Sodium Benzoate could help with advice, would be much appreciated.

Cheers

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brian_martin2001

what exactly do you want to know about them?

Marc_296056

Hi Brian, I have been making small batches of flavoured beverage style syrups for myself and friends for some time all natural, no preservatives required because only made in small batches. Now I would like to take what is a bit of a hobby and see if I can turn it into some cashflow by selling online.

So now I have to get into the preservatives side of things. All the research I have done regarding the syrups indicates that a mix of Citric Acid and Sodium Benzoate seems to be the preservaive of choice for, if not all, certainly most producers of the same.

So I'm confident enough that I'm on the right track with that and I have the correct ratios, but since I will already have the syrups, I thought it would only be a small step further to develop that range into more of a thicker dessert syurp for pouring over, rather than adding into.

I've looked a lot of different toppings, most seem to have their own recipes, some far more complicated than others and they all seem to prefer to use different preservitives. For example I was looking at Torani's Chocolate Syrup (dessert style) and they are using a base of cocoa that has been processed with Alkali and then they've gone with a Citric Acid and Potassium Sorbate as the preservative.

Obivioulsy the alkali process has rasied the alkaline level as well, I assume not enough to where the Citric Acid is no longer required, but since the rest of the recipe is very straight forward and mostly water (outside of the cocoa powder itself) why wouldn't the Citric Acid/Sodium Benzoate combination work just as well as they use in their beverage syrups, why the swicth to the PS?

I'm just worried that I'm missing a trick here, because I was just working on a very simple formula to create my dessert style syrups and that was to just create a higher viscosity of my already beverage style syrups for holding power and a more luxurious mouth feel.

Being that was the track that I was on, I was assuming that the Citric Acid/Sodium Benzoate combination would work just as well, but since Torani has gone with a different chemical makeup (despite their recipe being extremely similar to their beverage style syrup), I'm now a little confused as to why and would my combination not be effective as a preservative with a thicker syrup (which doesn't make a lot of sense to me lol), but I am quite ignorant in this field and trying to learn and understand to ensure I am creating a safe product.

brian_martin2001

It really has nothing to do with the viscosity of the product. it has to do with the chemical nature of the product, and what the most at risk spoilage organisms are for the specific product. I perused their products: both on their website, and at various internet retailers; and when it comes to chocolate, they use potassium sorbate, sometimes in unison with other preservatives, due to what their products are at risk for. Potassium sorbate functions better at a slightly higher pH range than does sodium benzoate, and is more effective against yeasts and molds. sodium benzoate works better at a more acidic range, and is better suited for defense against fungi and bacteria.

I would caution you about just looking at a variety of similar products to the one you're trying to come up with, and just arbitrarily deciding to use what another company is using. You need to do your due diligence, and research what your product is at risk for, what are the various preservative agents that are functional options, and what risks they may pose. For example: when sodium benzoate comes into contact with ascorbic acid (vitamin C) benzene is produced.

I would also recommend that if you're going to try and market a product that people are going to be eating, you really need to consider the overall risks involved with the product itself. I have no familiarity with the legal requirements of producing and marketing food in Australia, but here is the US, it's not a cakewalk, and there are a significant amount of inherent risks with manufacturing and selling foods.

I realize that might not be as informative as you like, but that's what I've got, and I hope that helps. You might also consider contacting suppliers of the various food preservatives, and asking them to supply you with information regarding these products. I haven't come across one yet who wasn't happy to inundate you with material regarding their products. Good Luck!

tshewman

I suspect the concern is that polysorbate has demonstrated that has the potential to damage the genetic information within a cell causing mutations of the lymphocytes (cells lymphatic system). At least in vitro. So, to a certain extent, it's up to the user to decide if it needs to be proven as safe first, or if they should use it until it has been proven to be safe with the knowledge of the governing bodies having a say and a dollar invested in the outcome.

Marc_296056

Thanks Brian,

I'm ceratinly not talking the risk lightly, I'll make sure I'm fully informed before anything goes on the market. The advice about speaking with the suppliers of the preservatives is of course faultless, somnething I should have done first off, but ceratinly something I will do know to follow your advice and I'm sure I'll get some solid advice there, so thanks very much for your help ... much appreciated.

Cheers

Victor_Pchek_1375416

Hi Marc, my name is Victor, I am Brazilian and I produce syrups just like you. I have the same doubts you mentioned. I wish I could talk more about syrups. Could you tell me your email or any other contact? Thanks