Specialists of the chemical industry characterize sorbic acid as a "solid substance, without color and odor, poorly soluble in water, has a clear acidic taste." Simple lay people can meet with it daily: acid is used as a preservative, therefore on food packages it is labeled as E200. Scientists, in turn, do not give a specific answer to the question: does sorbic acid harm or benefit the human body?
What is sorbic acid E200?
As already mentioned above, E200 is a powerful preservative with antibacterial properties. But, unlike many of its "fellow", it only slows the growth of microorganisms in products. That is why the products can keep their "freshness" and "attractiveness" for the consumer for a long period of time. Accordingly, experts point out, products with preservative E200 are not "sterile", because they live and reproduce groups of bacteria: useful and harmful to the human body.
As a food supplement sorbic acid in a minimum amount can even have a beneficial effect on the human body. It strengthens the immune system, and also helps to eliminate toxins . Its antibacterial properties of E200 can manifest only in a low-acid medium. Therefore, getting into the stomach, the preservative is quickly neutralized by gastric juice and is naturally released to the outside, not accumulating in the tissues of the body.
Harm of sorbic acid
Thanks to scientific research, the maximum permissible concentration of sorbic acid in the human body was deduced: 25 mg per 1 kg of human body weight. Therefore, this proportion indicates that the preservative E200 can be poisoned only if it is eaten in its pure form.
Scientists authoritatively declare that this acid is not a carcinogen, but it can cause severe swelling and rashes on the skin of allergic people. Greater harm sorbic acid (E200) causes
- formation of erythrocytes of normal form;
- participates in the process of regeneration of organs (liver, kidneys, spleen, heart) and tissues;
- formation of the myelin sheath of nerve tissues.
Thus, people who eat foods high in E200, most often suffer from diseases of the nervous system.