What is calcium bezoate?

Calcium benzoate is commonly used as a food preservative. It is effective against yeasts, moulds, and certain types of bacteria. It is currently approved for use in the EU, Austalia, and New Zealand.

Description

In its raw form, calcium benzoate appears as a white crystalline powder. It is a calcium salt of benzoic acid. In chemistry, the term salt refers to a particular set of compounds (ionic compounds) that result when an acid is neutralized by a base. In this case, benzoic acid, C₆H₅COOH, reacts with calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)₂, to form the salt calcium benzoate, Ca(C₇H₅O₂)₂.

Common Uses

The effectiveness of benzoic acid and it’s salts depends on the acidity (pH) of the food. Apparently, the most common use of calcium benzoate is in fruit juice¹. However, I have never found a product that lists it as an ingredient, likely because it is not an approved additive in Canada².

If anybody knows of a product that specifically lists calcium benzoate as an ingredient, please let us know in the comments, or send me a message, and I’ll list it here.

Health Issues / Side Effects

As far as I’ve been able to discover, the health issues associated with calcium benzoate are similar to the issues described for benzoic acid.

E Number

The E number of calcium benzoate is 213.

Other benzoates include sodium benzoate (E 211), potassium benzoate (E 212), and benzoic acid (E 210).

Notes

While researching this series of posts, I wanted to find out why industry might prefer one form of benzoic acid (or salt) over another form. I couldn’t find any conclusive answer except that in many cases the salts are preferred because they are easier to dissolve.

Sources

1. Bristol University – Rough Guide to E Numbers
2. Canadian Food Additive Dictionary

Links

If you want to read more, try the following links…
Canadian Food Additive Dictionary
FDA Food Additive Status List
UK Foods Standards Agency, Approved Food Additives
Food Standards – Australia and New Zealand