Sodium benzoate has been used in a wide variety of products because of its antimicrobial and flavor characteristics.
It is the most widely used food preservative in the world, being incorporated into both food and soft drink products.
It is used in margarine, salsas, maple syrups, pickles, preserves, jams and jellies. Almost every diet soft drink contains sodium benzoate, as do some wine coolers and fruit juices.
It is also used in personal care products like toothpaste, dentifrice cleaners, and mouthwashes.
As a preservative, sodium benzoate has the advantage of low cost.
A drawback is its astringent taste that can be avoided by using lower levels with another preservative like potassium sorbate.
Properties
Sodium Benzoate kills bacteria, yeast or fungi growth.
It works best for foods that have pH balance less than 3.6.
It is known as E211 and its chemical formula is NaC6H5CO2.
Also, the concentration of Sodium Benzoate as a food preservative is limited to 0.1% by weight.
Sodium benzoate is soluble in water and its melting point is 300 degrees.
The taste of sodium Benzoate is salty and it makess food bitter, if added in larger quantities.
Uses
Sodium Benzoate is popularly used as food preservative in a number of acidic food products like salad dressings, cold drinks, jams, fruit juices and others.
But apart from that it also has other important uses like:
•Sodium benzoate is one of the ingredients in alcohol based mouthwashes.
•It is used for preparing silver polish.
•It is used in firework to produce the whistling sound created at the time of ignition.
