WEDNESDAY, May 27, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Preservative food additives are associated with a higher incidence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to a study published online May 20 in the European Heart Journal.
Anaïs Hasenböhler, from Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, and colleagues examined associations between exposure to preservative food additives and the incidence of hypertension and CVD. The analysis included 112,395 participants in the NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009 to 2024) who were followed for a median 7.9 years.
The researchers found that total non-antioxidant preservatives were positively associated with higher incidence rates of hypertension (hazard ratio [HR] 1.29) and CVD (HR, 1.16). Total antioxidant preservatives were associated with a higher incidence of hypertension (HR, 1.22). For the 17 individual preservative food additives consumed by at least 10 percent of the study population, eight were associated with a higher incidence of hypertension and one was associated with a higher incidence of CVD.
"These findings support existing recommendations to favor nonprocessed and minimally processed foods, and avoid unnecessary additives," co-lead coauthor Mathilde Touvier, also from Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and Université Paris Cité, said in a statement. "Doctors and other health care professionals play a key role in explaining these recommendations to the public."
