Customization: | Available |
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CAS No.: | 24634-61-5 |
Formula: | C6h7ko2 |
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Potassium sorbate is a chemical additive. It's widely used as a preservative in foods, drinks, and personal care products. It is an odorless and tasteless salt synthetically produced from sorbic acid and potassium hydroxide.
Potassium sorbate prolongs the shelf life of foods by stopping the growth of mold, yeast, and fungi. It was discovered in the 1850s by the French, who derived it from berries of the mountain ash tree. Its safety and uses as a preservative have been researched for the last fifty years. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognizes it as generally safe when used appropriately.
What is potassium sorbate found in?
You'll find potassium sorbate on the list of ingredients for many common foods. It's a popular preservative because it's effective and doesn't change the qualities of a product, such as taste, smell, or appearance. It's also water-soluble, and it works at room temperature.
You may find it added to many food products, such as:
Potassium sorbate is used as an antimicrobial and preservative in personal care items, as well, such as:
Potassium sorbate is also approved for safe use as a preservative in moist cat and dog foods and in other animal feed.
Regulatory agencies such as the FDA, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have determined that potassium sorbate is "generally regarded as safe," abbreviated as GRAS. When you eat potassium sorbate as a food additive, it passes through your system harmlessly as water and carbon dioxide. It does not accumulate in your body.
In 2015, the EFSATrusted Source reviewed potassium sorbate and two other food additives. It set a temporary acceptable daily intake of 3 mg per kg Trusted Sourceof body weight per day. This limit is in response to questions about reproductive and developmental toxicity from animal research. Rats were fed 300 mg per day with no observed bad effects. For added safety, the EFSO set a standard that was 100 timesTrusted Source lower.
The maximum acceptable daily intake for humans is 25 milligrams per kilogramTrusted Source (mg per kg) of body weight per day. For an adult of 150 pounds, this comes to 1,750 mg per day.
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