Preservative Food Additives, Hypertension and Cardiovascular Disease
The famous food journalist Michael Pollan once said, “Don’t eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.” This wisdom still applies today. According to experimental studies, some food preservatives may have harmful cardiovascular effects, though we have been very few human studies.
The incidence of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease with exposure to food additives was examined in a French cohort, known as NutriNet Sante’ (from 2009-2024).
Methods
Nutrient intake was evaluated using repeated 24-h dietary records (up to 96), which included commercial brands. Food additive exposure was examined through several composition databases and ad hoc lab tests in food matrices. Links between cumulative preservative exposure over time and during follow-up were defined using multivariable Cox models.
Results
The study included 112,395 subjects (78.7% women, mean age 42.8 ± 14.7 years) with an average follow-up of 7.9 years. The total of preservatives included 58 compounds consumed by at least one participant. Total non-antioxidant preservatives were positively linked with higher rates of hypertension [n = 5544; hazard ratio (HR) higher vs. lower consumers: 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20–1.39] and CVD (n = 2450; HR 1.16, 95% CI 1.04–1.29), while total antioxidant additives were linked with higher incidence of hypertension (HR 1.22, 95% CI 1.13–1.31).
After multiple test corrections, 17 individual preservative food additives consumed by at least 10% of the study group were found to be associated with increased incidence of hypertension, and one with a higher incidence of CVD.
Conclusions
In this large prospective cohort, several links between intake of preservative food additives frequently used in processed foods and a higher incidence of hypertension or CVD were found.
Experimental research is necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms. If confirmed, this research calls for the re-evaluation of regulations overseeing the use of these additives to protect consumers.
How to reduce your exposure to additives:
· Pick bran flakes, shredded wheat, or other unsweetened cereal and doctor it up with nuts, dried fruit, or ground flaxseed
Choose whole, fresh, or frozen fruit over fruit snacks or fruit juice.
· Skip highly processed snacks like chips and sweets.
· Reduce or avoid fast food, frozen pizzas, and frozen/convenience meals.
· Go for plain rolled oats instead of instant oats.
· Use natural protein sources like eggs, cottage cheese, and Greek yogurt in place of protein bars, protein drinks, and protein powders.
· Make your own salad dressings with olive oil, vinegar, or lemon juice.
· Bake your own brownies, cakes or cookies in place of packaged sweets.
· Enjoy lightly salted nuts or seeds instead of chips and other savory snacks.
· Choose simple, unsweetened yogurt over artificially sweetened or “fruit on the bottom” varieties.
Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD
Reference:
Anaïs Hasenböhler, et. al. Preservative food additives, hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases: the NutriNet-Santé study European Heart Journal,, May 20, 2026, ehag308, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehag308