Investigation of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in snack foods in Jilin province, China

ABSTRACT

A high-performance liquid chromatography method was applied for the determination of the levels of benzoic acid and sorbic acid in 221 snack food samples, including fruit wine, noodle products, pickled products, baking products, cooked meat products, and bean products. Only two cooked food samples in all food samples have a preservative content exceeding the maximum permitted levels (MPL) laid down by the Standardization Administration of China. Among the food samples from which preservatives were detected, 69.6% of the samples contained one type of preservative and 30.4% of the samples detected two preservatives. Among the geometric mean values of preservatives in different types of foods, the highest is benzoic acid in pickled products (136.6 mg/kg) and sorbic acid in baking products (150.0 mg/kg). No preservatives were detected in bean products. Preservatives in packaged foods (21 of 121 samples, 17.4%) have a higher detection rate than bulk foods (2 of 100 samples, 2%), but each has only one piece that exceeds MPL. On the surface of our research, the amount of preservative added to snack foods in Jilin Province of China is relatively safe.

KEYWORDS:

• snack foods
• food preservative
• sorbic acid
• benzoic acid
• HPLC

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Food Engineering College of Jilin Engineering Normal University and Key Laboratory for Molecular Enzymology and Engineering of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Science of Jilin University for their enthusiastic support. The authors declare no conflict of interest.