I have a challenge for all of you today! That challenge is to rid your pantry and refrigerator of Sodium Benzoate. This chemical preservative is used to help inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungus in acidic products. It’s the cheapest mold inhibiter on the market, which is why it is so often used. Acidic foods tend to grow bacteria, mold and yeast more easily than non-acidic foods, so the Sodium Benzoate extends the shelf life. It is widely used in foods, beverages, cosmetics, dental care products, and pharmaceuticals. I even found it in Hyland’s Homeopathic Cough syrup. It is also found in a lot of food in restaurants. For example, Subway’s jalapeños, pickles, banana peppers and teriyaki glaze use Sodium Benzoate as a preservative.

Sodium benzoate is considerably more toxic than either processed sugar or high fructose corn syrup. It may exacerbate asthma, hyperactive behavior (when consumed in products with certain food colorings), and cause skin rash upon contact. A study in 2007 indicated that it may cause serious cell damage associated with cirrhosis of the liver, aging, and Parkinson’s disease. In animal studies, there are reports of possible weight gain, liver and kidney issues, and birth defects. (Source)

This ingredient has been linked with creating free radicals in the body, destorying mitochondrial DNA, and thus adding to the body’s aging process. Readily absorbed by the skin, Sodium Benzoate’s presence in anti-aging products may, ironically, actually age you faster, by damaging your DNA.

Sodium benzoate has been linked to cancer, but is not known to be carcinogenic on its own.  There have been concerns by the FDA that when both vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and sodium benzoate are mixed, they form benzene, a known human carcinogen and DNA damager. This creates a serious concern, because sodium benzoate is commonly used in acidic foods with vitamin C, such as juices, sodas and salad dressings. The FDA says it’s safe because the amount used to preserve foods is very low, but don’t ever combine it with vitamin C, as this causes benzene to be formed.

Outside of our foods, benzene is the main ingredient in various paint stripper products, rubber cements, and spot removers, due it its highly destructive and solvent qualities. It was discontinued in rubber manufacture in the U.S. because it caused large percentages of workers to get leukemia. (Source)

When reading your labels to confirm if Vitamin C is in the product, look for any of these names: Ascorbic Acid, Acide Ascorbique, Acide Cévitamique, Acide Iso-Ascorbique, Acide L-Ascorbique, Acido Ascorbico, Antiscorbutic Vitamin, Ascorbate, Ascorbate de Calcium, Ascorbate de Sodium, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Calcium Ascorbate, Cevitamic Acid, Iso-Ascorbic Acid, L-Ascorbic Acid, Magnesium Ascorbate, Palmitate d’Ascorbyl, Selenium Ascorbate, Sodium Ascorbate, Vitamina C, Vitamine Antiscorbutique, Vitamine C.

Cancer is all about the cumulative effect. When the human body is exposed repeatedly to any level of this carcinogen, which is found in thousands of products, the immune system, over time, is depleted to the point that one acquires an immune deficiency. Then the body does not have enough essential nutrients to detoxify, and this occurs at the cellular level. Parkinson’s, neuro-degenerative diseases, and premature aging have all been attributed to this infamous preservative. – Natural News

When going through your pantry look closely at the labels for:

• Vinegar (salad dressings, pickled foods)
• Carbonic acid (carbonated drinks)
• Citric acid (jams, fruit juices, cough syrups, baby wipes, liquid hand soaps)
• Alcohol (alcohol-based mouthwash)
• Other high acids (soy sauce, Chinese food sauces)

We found replacements for many of the products in our pantry/refrigerator that contained Sodium Benzoate. Read about them here.

~ “When you know better, you do better.” – Maya Angelou

I decided to feature this sandwich, because it was always one of my favorites. I thought I was being soooo healthy by eating it because it was featured on their Fresh Fit Choice menu. Reading the ingredients infuriates me! It also upsets me that this is how the sandwhich is marketed:

“This gourmet specialty is a flavorful blend of tender teriyaki glazed chicken strips and our own fat-free sweet onion sauce. Served hot & toasted on freshly baked bread. A taste so big, you won’t believe it has less than 6g of fat!” – www.subway.com

Having low calories is not what constitutes healthy. I know I have said it before, but healthy consists of so much more than calories. We also have to consider preservatives, refined sugars, oils, artificial colors, msg, bleached flours, and above all, GMOs. Just one 6-inch Roasted Garlic loaf from Subway–just the bread, no meat, no cheeses, no nothing–has 1,260 mg sodium, about as much as 14 strips of bacon!

As you will see from the following ingredient breakdown, the “Heart Healthy” Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sub contains a medley of all of the above. Items bolded in red are at-risk of being GM (genetically modified).

9-GRAIN WHEAT:  Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), water, yeast, whole wheat flour, sugar, contains 2% or less of the following: wheat gluten, oat fiber, soybean oil, wheat bran, salt, wheat, rye, yellow corn, oats, triticale, brown rice, barley, flaxseed, millet, sorghum, yeast nutrients (calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, ammonium sulfate), vitamin D2, dough conditioners (DATEM, sodium stearoyl lactylate, potassium iodate, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide), caramel color, refinery syrup, honey, yeast extract, natural flavor, enzymes. Contains wheat. (41 ingredients)

CHICKEN BREAST STRIPS: Boneless, skinless chicken breast with rib meat; water, flavor (potassium chloride, maltodextrin, sugar, autolyzed yeast extract, gum arabic, molasses, flavors, salt, lactic acid, disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate, fructose, medium chain triglycerides, dextrose, succinic acid, vinegar solids, thiamine hydrochloride and artificial flavors), soy protein concentrate, modified potato starch, sodium phosphates, salt. Contains soy. (24 ingredients)

CHICKEN STRIPS (Teriyaki glazed): Subway Chicken Breast Strips (see above), teriyaki glaze (water, corn syrup, soy sauce (water, wheat, soybean, salt, sodium benzoate [a preservative]), rice vinegar, modified corn starch, sugar, tomato paste, ginger, vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, sesame seed, salt, dehydrated green onion, dehydrated red bell pepper, natural flavours, autolyzed yeast extract, dehydrated garlic, sodium benzoate (a preservative), spices, citric acid, soybean oil, dry yeast (torula), dehydrated onion.). Contains soy, wheat and sesame. (28 ingredients)

93 ingredients later, you have a sub.

There is sodium benzoate in the teriyaki glaze (it is also in the banana peppers, jalapeño peppers & pickles). This preservative puts people at risk for a high-sodium diet if they eat this sandwich twice a day, every day like Jared did. A high-sodium diet causes high blood pressure, or hypertension, which increases risk for heart disease, kidney disease and stroke. Yet, this ingredient is in a product on the “Heart Healthy” menu. Sodium Benzoate also has the ability to deprive cells of oxygen, break down the immune system and cause cancer.

An alternative to this sandwich would be to bake/grill organic chicken (sprinkle with salt, pepper and olive oil), cut it up and put it in a lettuce wrap with guacamole, organic roasted red peppers and organic pickles. One of my favorite combinations!

Some words about Subway from one of my favorite food bloggers, Food Babe:

“I’d been duped by the food industry,” she says. “I thought that eating a six-gram fat or less; 250-calorie or less Subway sandwich was healthy for me. I didn’t realize that the nine-grain bread had over 50 ingredients, with one ingredient that’s banned in Singapore. If you get caught using it, you get fined 450,000 dollars. I didn’t know that information. I ate those things because of the calories.

I thought, ‘Oh, look at all these vegetables inside.’ But I didn’t realize that the jalapenos have been dipped in petroleum-based dyes: Yellow #5 and Yellow #6. I didn’t realize that all of these buildups of chemicals in my body were causing these issues. And it wasn’t just appendicitis. I had asthma and allergies growing up. I was on three or four asthma medications… I had to see the doctor on a very frequent basis, even put on steroids to control my asthma. Now I have zero asthma. I’m on zero medications right now.”