All-Natural Preservative
Renaud Naturals uses a 3-ingredient, all natural, food-grade (paraben
and toxin-free) preservative consisting of: Glucono Delta-Lactone,
Sodium Benzoate and Calcium Gluconate.
Glucono
Delta-lactone
(GDL): (commonly found in honey, fruit juices and wine)
is a naturally
occurring food
additive used as a sequestrant,
an acidifier,
or a curing,
pickling,
or leavening
agent. It is a cyclic ester
of D-gluconic
acid with chemical
formula C6H10O6
and CAS
number 90-80-2. Pure GDL is a white
odorless
crystalline
powder.
Glucono-delta-lactone,
upon addition to water readily forms an equilibrium mixture of the
lactone and gluconic
acid.
GDL is commonly found in honey,
fruit
juices,
and wine.
Being acidic, it adds a tangy taste
to foods,
though it has roughly a third of the sourness
of citric
acid. It is metabolized to glucose;
one gram
of GDL is equivalent to one gram of sugar.
Sodium
Benzoate
(E211): (found naturally in cranberries, prunes, plums, cinnamon, ripe cloves,
and apples)
also
called benzoate of soda,
has chemical
formula C6H5COONa.
It is the sodium salt of benzoic
acid and exists in this form when dissolved in water.
It can be produced by reacting sodium
hydroxide with benzoic
acid.
As a food
additive it is used as a preservative,
effectively killing most yeasts, bacteria and fungi. Sodium benzoate is
effective only in acidic conditions (pH < 3.6) making its use most
prevalent in foods such as preserves, salad dressings (vinegar),
carbonated
drinks (carbon
dioxide), jams (citric
acid), fruit juices (citric
acid), and chinese
food sauces (soy, mustard, and duck). It is also found in
alcohol-based mouthwash. More recently, sodium benzoate has become
apparent in many soft drinks, including Sprite,
Sunkist
and Dr
Pepper. It can be identified in soft drinks by 'sodium
benzoate' or E211.
It
is found naturally in cranberries,
prunes,
greengage plums,
cinnamon,
ripe cloves,
and apples.
Concentration as a preservative is limited by the FDA in the
U.S.
to 0.1% by weight though organically grown cranberries and prunes can
conceivably contain levels exceeding this limit. Some believe the limit
is 0.1% because larger amounts are poisonous. However, the
International Programme on Chemical Safety found no adverse effects in
humans at doses of 647-825 mg/kg of body weight per day.[2-3]
Calcium
Gluconate: (a soluble calcium salt)
Is a soluble calcium salt. It is a traditional food preservative,
calcium supplement, and used intravenously as an anti-toxin for black
widow spider bites! It is also used as a topical gel to neutralize
hydrofluoric acid burns.