Sodium benzoate (Approved food additive E211 in the EU) is a public health issue that has been bubbling for fifteen years and could soon come to a head and have the fizzy drinks industry frothing at the mouth. Sodium benzoate is a preservative added to carbonated beverages, but those drinks that also have added citric or ascorbic acid (vitamin C, E300) can be susceptible to the formation of benzene as a degradation product. At least that’s the theory. Read on and comment on this issue on the Sciencebase Science News site