Benzoic acid (210)

During my childhood soft drinks were only served as a special treat at a birthday party. Now today it's quite common for children to drink some form of soft drink on a daily basis.

Benzoic Acid is a preservative that is added to prevent mould developing in soft drinks. However, a recent landmark study in the U.K. of 153 3yr.olds and 144 ,5-9yr.olds found that benzoic acid caused adverse reactions in 79% of the children. To make matters worse benzoates react with Vitamin C to produce benzene- an aggressive carcinogen.