Is sodium benzoate or benzene in NingXia Red?

Is sodium benzoate or benzene in Ningxia Red?

Regarding sodium benzoate - Ningxia Red vs. Soft Drinks
FACTS vs. FICTION

Have you ever read that a raspberry, a blueberry or a strawberry contained sodium benzoate? Did you even know you have consumed sodium benzoate? It's a naturally occurring compound in these fruits that God put there so they would have a little bit longer shelf life for us.

Recently a great deal of attention has been focused on high levels of benzene in  common vitamin C-supplemented soft drinks. In recent years independent analyses performed by laboratories in New York, found benzene levels in  carbonated beverages at two-and-a-half-times and five times above the World  Health Organization limit for drinking water (10 parts per billion). In many cases  these levels exceeded 85 parts per billion.

Dr. Glen Lawrence, a chemist who conducted extensive benzene testing for the FDA, confirmed that sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid may react under certain  conditions to form benzene. This occurs commonly in soft drinks. He found that ascorbic acid readily oxidizes in the presence of carbonic acid, heat, and transition metals, such as iron or copper, to create 'free radical' hydroxyl particles. These  hydroxyl radicals attack benzoic acid, stripping away a carbon dioxide molecule.  Benzene is thereby created. It is important to note that this reaction occurs in the presence of either heat or carbonic acid, conditions common to almost all carbonated beverages.

In sum, Dr. Lawrence made it very clear that in order for benzene to be created in a liquid beverage, a benzoate must be combined with:

1. Vitamin C
2. Carbonic Acid
3.  Low antioxidant environment
4.  Heat

In the Ningxia Red, it is important to note that only two out of these four conditions are present. And regarding heat for pasteurization, only minimal heat is used in the low-temperature flash pasteurization of the Ningxia Red.

According to Dr. Lawrence, benzene is created only where an abundance of free radicals exists in solution, usually created by a combination of heat and or  carbonic acid.

In contrast to the poor antioxidant levels of most soft drinks, Ningxia Red is one of the most potent antioxidant liquid supplements ever tested. This unequalled  antioxidant profile prevents the creation of benzene in the Ningxia Red juice.  Moreover, the absence of carbonic acid further protects the vitamin C in Ningxia Red from forming the free radicals.

The proof is clear: Independent laboratory tests of Ningxia Red for benzene found that it easily passes both the World Health Organization limit for drinking water (10 parts per billion) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's drinking  water safety standard (five parts per billion). In fact, the benzene levels in Ningxia  Red are so low that one medium raw egg (61 grams) has over 1000 times the benzene as a one ounce serving of Ningxia Red.

As a side note, it would be nearly impossible to entirely eliminate benzene from the diet. Trace amounts of benzene are a nearly ubiquitous component of many foods  including, red beans, leeks, parsley, soybean milk, cocoa, apples, oranges, cranberries, bilberries, strawberries and more. However, by using high antioxidant dietary additions, it is possible to minimize any of its negative effects on the body.  And Ningxia Red is one of the most powerful known antioxidants with a number  of documented health benefits. 

YLEO R&D