What’s Really In Your Food?

A conversation in the cereal aisle, shared as a guest article from Dr. Tiffany Troso-Sandoval.

This Is Not A New Conversation

Back in the 1970s and 80s, researchers were already sounding alarms about nitrites and nitrates in our food. A 1978 FDA study raised concerns. By 1985, studies were linking these preservatives to gastric cancer. The food industry pushed back hard, and the debate faded into the background noise of nutritional science.

But the evidence never really went away. It just kept quietly accumulating.

I was standing in the cereal aisle of Whole Foods last December with my daughter, Gabriella, home on winter break from her neuroscience program. She picked up a box of granola and started reading the ingredient list out loud.

Problems In The Box

“Potassium sorbate. Sodium benzoate. Calcium propionate.” She paused. “Mom, we literally just covered these in organic chemistry. Potassium sorbate is a salt of sorbic acid. It’s a weak acid that disrupts microbial cell membranes by interfering with amino acid transport.”

I looked at the box. Healthy-looking granola. Wholesome packaging. A laundry list of preservatives.

“Keep reading,” I said.

“Sodium nitrite. That’s the one that forms nitrosamines in acidic environments, right? Like your stomach?” She looked up at me. “We talked about N-nitroso compounds last semester. They’re alkylating agents. They can literally attach alkyl groups to DNA and cause mutations.”

She wasn’t wrong.

She put the box back on the shelf. “I’m just going to make my own granola mix when I get home. Oats, nuts, honey, maybe some dried fruit. No chemistry lab required.”

And a major new study published just last month in the BMJ confirms what Gabriella was piecing together from her chemistry textbook: several widely used food preservatives are associated with higher cancer risk.

Let me walk you through what we know, what this means for you, and most importantly, what you can actually do about it.

The Latest Study You Should Know About

The NutriNet-Santé study followed over 105,000 French adults for nearly eight years, tracking their detailed dietary intake and cancer diagnoses. The researchers didn’t just ask people what they ate. They captured brand names, specific products, and calculated exact preservative exposure using laboratory assays and regulatory databases.

During the study, 4,226 people developed cancer. The researchers examined 17 different preservatives.

Eleven showed no association with cancer. That’s important. Not every preservative is a problem.

But six preservatives showed concerning patterns.

The preservatives linked to higher cancer risk:

• Potassium sorbate (E202): 14% higher overall cancer risk, 26% higher breast cancer risk
• Sulfites (especially potassium metabisulfite): 12% higher overall cancer, 20% higher breast cancer
• Nitrites (sodium nitrite, E250): Most concerning. 32% higher prostate cancer risk
• Nitrates (potassium nitrate, E252): 13% higher overall cancer, 22% higher breast cancer
• Acetates (acetic acid and sodium acetates): 15% higher overall cancer, 25% higher breast cancer
• Sodium erythorbate (E316): 12% higher overall cancer, 21% higher breast cancer

The absolute risk difference was meaningful. By age 60, high consumers of these preservatives had a 13.3% cancer risk compared to 12.1% in non-consumers. For breast cancer specifically: 5.7% versus 4.8%.

One percentage point might not sound dramatic. But across millions of people, that translates into thousands of preventable cancers.

But Wait. We’ve Heard This Before, Haven’t We?

Yes. And that’s exactly the point.

The link between nitrites, nitrates, and cancer isn’t new. Research from the 1970s and 1980s raised red flags. A 1985 study in Nature connected nitrates and nitrites to gastric cancer. Time magazine covered the bacon-and-cancer link back in 1980.

What happened? The food industry responded with reassurances, funded counter-research, and successfully muddied the waters. Public concern faded. Regulations stayed the same.

But, the science kept building. A 2022 study from this same French cohort found that nitrite additives (not natural nitrites from vegetables) were linked to higher breast and prostate cancer risks. World Health Organization classified processed meat as a Group 1 carcinogen in 2015, largely because of these preservatives.

The new 2026 BMJ study isn’t an outlier. It’s confirmation.

Why Do These Preservatives Increase Cancer Risk?

Gabriella’s chemistry instincts were right.

Nitrites and nitrates form N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) in your stomach, especially when combined with protein from meat. These NOCs are proven carcinogens in animals and likely carcinogens in humans. They damage DNA directly by adding alkyl groups to nucleotides, causing mutations that can lead to cancer.

Sulfites may promote oxidative stress and inflammation. While sulfites occur naturally (especially in wine), the additive forms appear in processed foods without the protective antioxidants found in whole foods.

Sorbates and acetates likely work through chronic, low-grade inflammatory pathways. The exact mechanisms are still being studied, but repeated exposure appears to create a cellular environment that favors cancer development.

Erythorbate (a sodium salt of erythorbic acid, related to vitamin C) is used as an antioxidant preservative, often alongside nitrites in processed meats. The irony? While natural vitamin C from food is protective, the synthetic additive form in industrial products appears to have a different biological effect, possibly acting as a pro-oxidant in certain food matrices.

The critical difference: these are food additives, not naturally occurring compounds in whole foods. Vegetables contain nitrates, but they also contain vitamin C, polyphenols, and other compounds that block NOC formation. Industrial additives lack these protective co-factors.

What About The Foods We Eat?

The study found that 85% of sulfite intake came from alcoholic beverages. Over 60% of nitrite and 80% of nitrate additives came from processed meats (deli meats, bacon, sausages, hot dogs). About 35% of total preservative intake came from ultra-processed foods.

Ultra-processed foods already carry risk. They’re linked to obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and yes, cancer. Add preservatives into that mix, and the risk compounds.

Connecting The Dots: The Young Cancer Crisis

If you’ve been following my recent work on rising cancer rates in people under 50, this should sound familiar. Cancer in adults under 50 has surged nearly 80% since 1990. We’ve been asking: why?

Ultra-processed foods are a major thread. They disrupt the gut microbiome, drive chronic inflammation, deliver hormone-disrupting chemicals, and now we’re seeing clear evidence that their preservatives independently raise cancer risk.

The timeline fits. Widespread use of these additives ramped up in the 1950s and 60s. The birth cohorts exposed to these chemicals from childhood are now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. And they’re the ones showing elevated cancer rates.

This isn’t the whole story. But it’s an important piece of a larger puzzle.

So What Do We Actually Do?

Education and empowerment. Not fear. And control the controllable.

Here’s what you can control:

1 – Limit processed meats

This isn’t new advice, but it’s more urgent now. Bacon, deli meats, sausages, and hot dogs are the main sources of nitrite and nitrate additives. The occasional sandwich won’t kill you. But daily or near-daily consumption? Rethink that habit.

If you do buy processed meats, look for “uncured” or “no nitrates/nitrites added” labels. These use celery powder (natural nitrates) instead of synthetic additives. The jury is still out on whether celery-derived nitrates pose the same risk, but at least they come with naturally protective compounds.

2 – Reduce alcohol, especially wine and beer

Sulfite exposure mainly comes from alcoholic drinks. Moderate drinking already carries breast cancer risk. High sulfite intake may add to that burden.

3 – Read labels

Look for these codes on European products or their names on US labels:

• E202 (potassium sorbate)
• E220-E228 (sulfites)
• E250 (sodium nitrite)
• E252 (potassium nitrate)
• E260-E263 (acetates)
• E316 (sodium erythorbate)

You don’t need to eliminate them entirely. But awareness helps you make intentional choices.

4 – Choose fresh and minimally processed foods whenever possible

This is the single best strategy. Fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, nuts, fresh fish, and unprocessed poultry don’t contain these additives.

Cook at home more. Batch-prep on weekends. Make extra and freeze leftovers. Real food doesn’t need a chemistry degree to decode.

5 – Add protective foods

If you do eat processed foods, pair them with foods high in vitamin C and antioxidants. A spinach salad with your sandwich. Berries with your cereal. These compounds inhibit NOC formation and offer some protection.

6 – Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good

You’re not going to eliminate every preservative from your diet. That’s not the goal. The goal is to shift the balance toward real food and away from industrial products.

Start small. Swap one processed snack this week for a real-food alternative. Replace deli meat sandwiches with rotisserie chicken or leftover grilled salmon.

Make your own granola mix like Gabriella. It’s easier than you think: oats, nuts, a drizzle of honey, whatever dried fruit you like. Bake it for 20 minutes. Done.

7 – Advocate for policy change

France is debating a ban on nitrite additives. Other European countries are following suit. In the US, the food industry has successfully blocked similar regulations for decades.

Write to your representatives. Support organizations pushing for stricter food additive regulations. Vote with your wallet by choosing brands that use fewer or no synthetic preservatives.

The Bottom Line

This study doesn’t prove that preservatives cause cancer in every person who eats them. It’s observational. Confounding factors exist. People who eat a lot of processed meat also tend to eat fewer vegetables, exercise less, and have other risk factors.

But the signal is there. It’s consistent. It’s biologically plausible. And it fits with decades of prior research.

The researchers concluded: “These new data call for the re-evaluation of regulations governing the food industry’s use of these additives, to improve consumer protection.”

I agree.

In the meantime, we don’t have to wait for regulators to act. We can act now.

Choose fresh over processed. Read labels. Cook more at home. Teach your kids to understand what they’re eating and why it matters.

Because the best defense against cancer isn’t a single intervention. It’s a pattern. A way of living that stacks the odds in your favor, one meal at a time.

Shared with gratitude to Dr. Tiffany Troso-Sandoval, a board-certified medical oncologist with over 25 years of experience caring for women with breast and gynecologic cancers.

At the risk of being considered pushy, visiting your pantry or cupboards to check the ingredients in the food you plan to eat can make a big difference in your future.