Exposure to preservative food additives widely used in industrial foods was associated with a higher incidence of hypertension or cardiovascular disease, according to results from the NutriNet-Santé study published May 20 in EHJ.

Anaïs Hasenböhler, PhD student, Mathilde Touvier, PhD, MPH, MSc, et al., analyzed the dietary intake of 112,395 participants (mean age of 42 years, 79% women) in France from 2009 to 2024. This large, prospective cohort study assessed dietary intake using repeated 24-hour dietary records (up to 96), including commercial brands, and exposure to food additives was assessed using multiple compositional databases and ad hoc laboratory assays of food matrices.

Associations between cumulative, time-dependent exposure to preservative additives during follow-up and study outcomes were evaluated using multivariable-adjusted Cox models. Total preservative exposure was defined as the sum of 58 substances, all of which were consumed by at least one participant.

Over the eight-year follow-up, researchers found that 99.5% of participants had consumed at least one food preservative within the first two years. Looking at total non-antioxidant preservatives, those who had a higher consumption vs. lower consumption, had a 29% higher risk of hypertension and 16% higher risk of cardiovascular disease. Participants with a higher consumption of total non-antioxidant preservatives had a 22% higher risk of hypertension.

Of the 17 most common preservative additives consumed by at least 10% of participants, eight were associated with an increased risk of hypertension and one with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

"These findings may have important public health implications as consumers are exposed to these compounds via thousands of foods and drinks," write the authors. "These results need to be confirmed by other epidemiological studies, and additional experimental data are needed to depict the mechanisms underlying potential adverse [cardiovascular disease]- and hypertension-related effects of these substances."