Surveillance of the Levels of Naturally Derived Benzoic Acid in Fresh Foods①Comparison of Survey Results and Analytical Methods

Benzoic acid (BA),widely used as a food preservative, occurs naturally in various natural foods. Therefore, distinguishing between added and naturally occurring BA is essential in the administrative testing of food preservatives. To elucidate the naturally derived BA levels, we analyzed 180 samples, including fruits, nuts, vegetables, beans, and mushrooms, using steam distillation and dialysis. The distillation method successfully detected BA in 60 samples, with concentrations ranging from 2.3 to 471.2 μg/g. Particularly high levels were detected in cranberry and red perilla. In contrast, the dialysis method could not detect BA in 21 fruit samples with low BA concentrations and detected only trace amounts of BA in four samples. These findings indicated that BA might be generated in fruit samples during the distillation process. This study provides valuable reference data for administrative assessments when determining whether BA detected in food is naturally derived or added as a preservative.