Potassium Sorbate and GSE (Was RE: Preservatives)

[Guest guest]

Here are some bits of info on two of the more commonly referred to

" natural preservatives " GSE and potassium sorbate.

 

Potassium sorbate is becoming more popular as an alternative to parabens

and some other preservatives. It is sometimes called a " natural

preservative " because it does occur naturally, but most is made

synthetically these days. It is effective in products with a pH range of

2 to 6.5. It is food grade and inhibits yeast, mold and some bacteria.

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

http://www.alittleolfactory.com

 

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<http://www.stapleton-spence.com/CustomerService/sorbate.htm>

http://www.stapleton-spence.com/CustomerService/sorbate.htm

 

All About Potassium Sorbate

 

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What is Potassium Sorbate?

 

Potassium Sorbate is the potassium salt of sorbic acid, a naturally

occurring organic acid that has been used extensively as a fungistatic

agent for foods. Sorbic acid was first discovered in the Mountain Ash

Tree (Sorbus aucuparia or Sorbus americana).

 

Today most potassium sorbate is made synthetically. It is a white

crystalline powder, inexpensive (at typical usage levels), with

basically no noticeable flavor at normal usage concentrations.

 

What are the benefits of Potassium Sorbate?

 

When dissolved in water, potassium sorbate ionizes to form sorbic acid

which is effective against yeasts, molds, and select bacteria, and is

widely used at 250 ppm to 1000 ppm levels in cheeses, dips, yogurt, sour

cream, bread, cakes, pies and fillings, baking mixes, doughs, icings,

fudges, toppings, beverages, margarine, salads, fermented and acidified

vegetables, olives, fruit products, dressings, smoked and salted fish,

confections and mayonnaise.

 

In many food products, sorbate and benzoate are used together to provide

greater protection against a wider variety of microorganisms

(synergism). This only makes sense if the pH of the product is below

4.5.

 

At what levels is Potassium Sorbate used?

 

Typical usage levels are 250-1000 parts per million. In the prune

industry sorbate application is monitored by the Dried Fruit Association

(DFA) and it's usage level closely monitored.

 

As with all preservatives that are used in a food, potassium sorbate

must be declared in the list of ingredients on the label, along with a

short explanation of intended use, such as " preservative, " " mold

inhibitor, " or " to retard spoilage, " etc.

 

 

How safe is Potassium Sorbate?

 

Potassium sorbate is a naturally occurring unsaturated fatty acid and is

completely safe with regard to health and have the lowest allergenic

potential of all food preservatives.

 

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www.wellvet.com/grapefruitseedextracts.html

 

Grapefruit Seed Extract

 

 

 

Grapefruit Seed Extract is commonly reported to have powerful

antimicrobial activity. Some manufacturers claim that it is highly

effective in a variety of microbial infections, including these

organisms:

 

1. Fungi

 

 

a. Aspargillosis

 

b. Candida albicans

 

c. Trichophyton sp (ringworm)

 

2. Bacteria

 

 

a. Klebsiella

 

b. Pseudomonas

 

c. Escherichia coli (E. coli)

 

d. Clostridium

 

e. Salmonella

 

Companies that manufacture grapefruit seed extract products claim to

have extensive research proving their beneficial effects. Some companies

even publish extensive " scientific " evaluations of their products'

effectiveness on their web pages.

 

However, when carefully analyzed and studied, grapefruit seed extract

products appear to have little or no antimicrobial properties. Even more

curious is the fact that almost all of the grapefruit seed extract

products on the market contain preservatives that are intended to

prevent the growth of bacteria and fungi! This would make one wonder

why, if these extracts were so powerful, the full strength concentrate

(which should be far more effective in preventing microbial growth than

the label recommended diluted dose) needs any preservative at all?

 

Also, when WellVet.com evaluated the claims of one of the companies, the

parts per million (ppm) dose needed to control the various organisms in

the sensitivity study were actually remarkably high. In reality, it

would be impossible to achieve blood levels approaching those needed for

the product to work. For example, to achieve control of Pseudomonas,

20,000 PPM was needed to achieve effective control. It is quite

impossible to reach such concentrations in the bird's body, let alone

consider what toxic damage might occur due to the presence of the

preservatives in the product.

 

It seems to us at WellVet.com that the entire effectiveness of

grapefruit seed extract is due totally to the presence of the

preservatives, and the grapefruit seed extracts have no antimicrobial

effects on their own.

 

For those who would like to look further into this issue, we offer the

following abstracts of scientific studies involving grapefruit seed

extracts:

 

These abstracts are from PubMed.

 

Von Woedtke T, Schluter B, Pflegel P, Lindequist U, Julich WD. Institute

of Pharmacy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Greifswald, Germany. Aspects

of the antimicrobial efficacy of grapefruit seed extract and its

relation to preservative substances contained. Pharmazie 1999,

Jun:54(6):452-6

 

 

The antimicrobial efficacy as well as the content of preservative agents

of six commercially available grapefruit seed extracts were examined.

Five of the six extracts showed a high growth inhibiting activity

against the test germs Bacillus subtilis SBUG 14, Micrococcus flavus

SBUG 16, Staphylococcus aureus SBUG 11, Serratia marcescens SBUG 9,

Escherichia coli SBUG 17, Proteus mirabilis SBUG 47, and Candida maltosa

SBUG 700. In all of the antimicrobial active grapefruit seed extracts,

the preservative benzethonium chloride was detected by thin layer

chromatography. Additionally, three extracts contained the preserving

substances triclosan and methyl parabene. In only one of the grapefruit

seed extracts tested no preservative agent was found. However, with this

extract, as well as with several self-made extracts from seed and

juiceless pulp of grapefruits (Citrus paradisi), no antimicrobial

activity could be detected (standard serial broth dilution assay, agar

diffusion test). Thus, it is concluded that the potent as well as nearly

universal antimicrobial activity being attributed to grapefruit seed

extract is merely due to the synthetic preservative agents contained

within. Natural products with antimicrobial activity do not appear to be

present.

 

Xiong H, Li Y, Slavik MF, Walker JT. Spraying chicken skin with selected

chemicals to reduce attached Salmonella typhimurium.

Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering, University of

Arkansas, Fayetteville 72701, USA. J Food Prot 1998 Mar;61(3):272-5

 

 

Aqueous solutions of 5% and 10% trisodium phosphate (TSP), 0.1% and 0.5%

cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC), 1% and 2% lactic acid (LA), and 0.1% and

0.5% grapefruit seed extract (DF-100) were evaluated in prechill

spraying for reducing Salmonella typhimurium attached on chicken skins.

Chicken skins were inoculated with S. typhimurium and then sprayed with

the selected chemical solutions for 30 sec at 206 kPa and 20 degrees C.

After chemical spraying, the skins were rinsed by spraying tap water for

30 sec. Each skin was stomached in buffered peptone water (BPW) for 1

min. The stomaching water was then diluted serially, inoculated onto

both xylose lysine tergitol (XLT4) agar and Aerobic Plate Count (APC)

Petrifilm, and incubated for 24 hr at 37 degrees C. The results showed

that the numbers of Salmonella on the chicken skins after the chemical

spraying were significantly lower than those without spray (P < 0.05).

The CPC reduced Salmonella by 1.5 to 1.9 log10. TSP resulted in a 2.1 to

2.2 log10 reduction of Salmonella and DF-100 produced a 1.6 to 1.8 log10

reduction of Salmonella. The LA had a number of Salmonella with a 2.2

log10 reduction. The 0.5% CPC resulted a significantly greater reduction

in Salmonella than 0.1% CPC. There were no significant differences in

Salmonella reduction between different concentrations of the other three

chemicals.

 

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Sakamoto S, Sato K, Maitani T, Yamada T. [Analysis of components in

natural food additive " grapefruit seed extract " by HPLC and LC/MS]

[Article in Japanese] Eisei Shikenjo Hokoku 1996;(114):38-42

 

The components in a commercial natural food additive, " Grapefruit seed

extract " , and the ethanol extract of grapefruit seeds were analyzed by

HPLC and LC/MS. The HPLC chromatogram of the commercial grapefruit seed

extract was quite different from that of the ethanol extract of

grapefruit seeds. Three main peaks were observed in the chromatogram of

the commercial grapefruit seed extract. By comparison of the retention

times and the absorption spectra with those of authentic samples, two

peaks were ascribed to methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate and

2,4,4'-trichloro-2'-hydroxydiphenylether (triclosan). Triclosan was also

identified by LC/MS by using the negative electrospray ionization

method.

 

 

Calori-Domingues MA, Fonseca H. Laboratory evaluation of chemical

control of aflatoxin production in unshelled peanuts (Arachis hypogaea

L.). Departamento de Ciencia e Tecnologia Agroindustrial, Escola

Superior de Agricultura, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil.

Food Addit Contam 1995 May-Jun;12(3):347-50

 

Propionic acid (ammonium salt) at 3000 mg/kg (PA1) and 5000 mg/kg (PA2)

of unshelled peanuts (UP); grapefruit seed extract at 5000 mg/kg (GF1)

and 10,000 mg/kg (GF2); sodium orthophenylphenate at 2500 mg/kg (SOP1)

and 5000 mg/kg (SOP2); thiabendazole 1000 mg/kg (TBZ1) and 5000 mg/kg

(TBZ2) were studied in the laboratory, to verify their efficiency in

controlling fungal growth and aflatoxin (AF) production on moist UP

(16-18% moisture content). Moist UP were put into polyethylene bags with

cotton plugs and incubated at 30 +/- 2 degrees C for 28 days. Treatments

were considered efficient when the AF content (B1 + G1) remained under

30 micrograms/kg. PA1 treatment was efficient until 14 days of

incubation and PA2 during the whole incubation period (28 days). All

other treatments were not efficient, showing AF contents from 150 to

108,333 micrograms/kg during the incubation periods. Propionic acid,

used as ammonium propionate, at 5000 mg/kg shows promise in controlling

aflatoxin production when applied to moist unshelled peanuts.

 

Ranzani MR, Fonseca H. Mycological evaluation of chemically-treated

unshelled peanuts. Departamento de Ciencia e Tecnologia Agroindustrial,

Universidade de Sao Paulo, Piracicaba, Brazil. Food Addit Contam 1995

May-Jun;12(3):343-6

 

In the present work, the effect of propionic acid (ammonium salt) at

3000 mg/kg of unshelled peanuts (PA1) and at 5000 mg/kg (PA2),

grapefruit seed extract at 5000 mg/kg (GF1) and 10,000 mg/kg (GF2),

sodium orthophenylphenate at 2500 mg/kg (SOP1) and at 5000 mg/kg (SOP2)

and thiabendazole at 1000 mg/kg (TBZ1) and at 5000 mg/kg (TBZ2) was

studied for controlling total and potentially aflatoxigenic fungi in

unshelled peanuts (UP). Samples of sound mature UP were moistened by

adding water and kept refrigerated till they reached 16% moisture. The

samples were then sprayed with the chemical solutions and incubated at

30 +/- 2 degrees C for 28 days. Control samples were sprayed with water.

An evaluation of total and aflatoxigenic fungi was made, in pods of UP

and in kernels obtained aseptically, before and at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days

of incubation, by serial dilution in culture media Dichloran Rose Bengal

Chloramphenicol (total fungi count) and in Aspergillus flavus

parasiticus Agar (potentially aflatoxigenic count). In relation to the

period and conditions of this experiment the overall best treatment was

PA2, when the lowest average value of total and aflatoxigenic fungi were

obtained in UP and were maintained in its kernels. Although SOP2

treatment could control fungal contamination in pods, it was not

effective in controlling contamination through the kernels. The other

treatments were ineffective.