Food Preservatives May Increase the Risk of High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease
Food Preservatives May Increase the Risk of High Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Disease
食品防腐剂可能增加高血压和心血管疾病的风险
Looking at the ingredient labels on foods lining supermarket shelves, it’s common to see names such as “potassium sorbate,” “citric acid,” and “L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C).” These substances are food additives used to prevent spoilage and preserve quality, and they are widely incorporated into industrially produced processed foods. According to Open Food Facts, the world’s largest open food database, more than 20 percent of the processed foods and beverages in its database contain at least one preservative.
查看超市货架上食品的配料表时，经常会看到“山梨酸钾”、“柠檬酸”和“L-抗坏血酸（维生素C）”等名称。这些物质是用于防止变质和保持质量的食品添加剂，被广泛应用于工业生产的加工食品中。根据全球最大的开放食品数据库 Open Food Facts 的数据，其数据库中超过 20% 的加工食品和饮料至少含有一种防腐剂。
Against this backdrop, a research team led by scientists at Sorbonne Paris Nord University and Université Paris Cité analyzed data from the large-scale NutriNet-Santé cohort study, which followed 112,395 participants for a median of 7.9 years, to investigate the relationship between dietary preservative intake and the risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease.
在此背景下，由巴黎北索邦大学和巴黎西岱大学的科学家领导的研究团队，分析了大规模 NutriNet-Santé 队列研究的数据。该研究对 112,395 名参与者进行了中位数为 7.9 年的跟踪调查，旨在探讨膳食防腐剂摄入量与高血压及心血管疾病发病风险之间的关系。
“Experimental studies suggest that some preservative food additives may be harmful to cardiovascular health, but we have not had enough evidence on the impact of these ingredients in humans,” said Anaïs Hasenböhler, the doctoral researcher who led the study, in a press release. “As far as we know, this is the first study of its kind to investigate the links between a wide range of preservatives and cardiovascular health.”
“实验研究表明，某些防腐剂食品添加剂可能对心血管健康有害，但我们此前缺乏关于这些成分对人体影响的足够证据，”领导该研究的博士研究员安娜伊斯·哈森博勒（Anaïs Hasenböhler）在新闻稿中表示，“据我们所知，这是首个研究多种防腐剂与心血管健康之间联系的同类研究。”
8 Preservatives Linked to Hypertension Risk
8 种与高血压风险相关的防腐剂
The researchers divided preservatives into two broad categories. The first consisted of non-antioxidant preservatives, such as sorbates, nitrites, and sulfites, which inhibit the growth of mold and bacteria. The second consisted of antioxidant preservatives, including ascorbic acid, citric acid, and erythorbates, which prevent oxidation and discoloration in foods. According to the researchers, nearly every participant (99.5 percent) consumed at least one preservative during the first two years of the study.
研究人员将防腐剂分为两大类。第一类是非抗氧化防腐剂，如山梨酸盐、亚硝酸盐和亚硫酸盐，它们能抑制霉菌和细菌的生长。第二类是抗氧化防腐剂，包括抗坏血酸、柠檬酸和异抗坏血酸盐，它们能防止食品氧化和变色。据研究人员称，几乎所有参与者（99.5%）在研究的前两年内都至少摄入了一种防腐剂。
The analysis found that participants with the highest intake of non-antioxidant preservatives had a 29 percent higher risk of developing hypertension than those with the lowest intake. They also had a 16 percent higher risk of overall cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke, and angina. Participants with the highest intake of antioxidant preservatives likewise showed a 22 percent higher risk of hypertension.
分析发现，非抗氧化防腐剂摄入量最高的参与者，其患高血压的风险比摄入量最低的参与者高出 29%。他们患整体心血管疾病（包括心脏病发作、中风和心绞痛）的风险也高出 16%。抗氧化防腐剂摄入量最高的参与者，其高血压风险同样高出 22%。
The researchers also examined the 17 most commonly consumed preservatives individually. Of these, eight were associated with an increased risk of hypertension: potassium sorbate (E202), potassium metabisulfite (E224), sodium nitrite (E250), ascorbic acid (E300), sodium ascorbate (E301), sodium erythorbate (E316), citric acid (E330), and rosemary extract (E392). Among these, ascorbic acid was also associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
研究人员还对 17 种最常用的防腐剂进行了单独分析。其中，有 8 种与高血压风险增加有关：山梨酸钾 (E202)、焦亚硫酸钾 (E224)、亚硝酸钠 (E250)、抗坏血酸 (E300)、抗坏血酸钠 (E301)、异抗坏血酸钠 (E316)、柠檬酸 (E330) 和迷迭香提取物 (E392)。其中，抗坏血酸还与心血管疾病风险增加有关。
During the follow-up period, researchers recorded 5,544 cases of hypertension and 2,450 cases of cardiovascular disease, including 1,142 cerebrovascular events and 1,308 cases of coronary artery disease. The study also found that approximately 16 percent of the association between non-antioxidant preservatives and cardiovascular disease was mediated indirectly through hypertension. In other words, the findings suggest that preservatives may contribute to hypertension, which in turn may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
在随访期间，研究人员记录了 5,544 例高血压病例和 2,450 例心血管疾病病例，其中包括 1,142 例脑血管事件和 1,308 例冠状动脉疾病。研究还发现，非抗氧化防腐剂与心血管疾病之间约 16% 的关联是通过高血压间接介导的。换句话说，研究结果表明，防腐剂可能导致高血压，进而增加心血管疾病的风险。
Calls to Reevaluate Food Additive Regulations
呼吁重新评估食品添加剂法规
The researchers emphasize that these findings come from an observational study and do not establish a causal relationship between food preservatives and hypertension or cardiovascular disease. The study also has important limitations. Women accounted for 78.7 percent of participants, and the cohort included a relatively high proportion of highly educated individuals, meaning it does not perfectly represent the general population.
研究人员强调，这些发现来自一项观察性研究，并未确立食品防腐剂与高血压或心血管疾病之间的因果关系。该研究也存在重要的局限性。女性占参与者的 78.7%，且队列中高学历人群比例较高，这意味着它不能完全代表普通人群。
Even so, the statistical models accounted for a wide range of potential confounding factors, and the results remained consistent across multiple sensitivity analyses.
即便如此，统计模型仍考虑了多种潜在的混杂因素，且结果在多次敏感性分析中保持一致。
“These results suggest we need a reevaluation of the risks and benefits of these food additives by the authorities in charge, such as the EFSA in Europe and the FDA in the USA, for better consumer protection,” said Mathilde Touvier, research director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, in a press release. “In the meantime, these findings support existing recommendations to favor nonprocessed and minimally processed foods, and avoid unnecessary additives.”
“这些结果表明，为了更好地保护消费者，我们需要由欧洲食品安全局 (EFSA) 和美国食品药品监督管理局 (FDA) 等主管当局对这些食品添加剂的风险和收益进行重新评估，”法国国家健康与医学研究院研究主任马蒂尔德·图维耶 (Mathilde Touvier) 在新闻稿中表示，“与此同时，这些发现支持了现有的建议，即优先选择未加工和轻度加工食品，并避免不必要的添加剂。”
The possibility that preservatives long regarded as safe could affect cardiovascular health raises important questions about current regulatory approaches. For additives that are consumed continuously through multiple foods without numerical limits on their use, the findings suggest it may be time to reopen the debate over whether existing regulations are adequate.
长期以来被视为安全的防腐剂可能影响心血管健康，这一可能性对当前的监管方式提出了重要质疑。对于那些通过多种食品持续摄入且没有使用数量限制的添加剂，研究结果表明，现在或许是时候重新讨论现有法规是否足够完善了。