1908 



Issued July 20, 1908. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



BUREAU OF CHEMISTRY Circular No. 39. 

 H. W. WILEY, Chief of Bureau. 



GENERAL RESULTS OF THE INVESTIGATION SHOWING THE EFFECT 

 OF BENZOIC ACID AND BENZOATES UPON DIGESTION AND 

 HEALTH.* 



INTRODUCTION. 



In the continuation of the work described in Parts I to III of this 

 bulletin, experiments were conducted, according to the general plan 

 already described, to determine the effects of benzoic acid and ben- 

 zoates upon health and digestion. This investigation is of special 

 importance because of the opinion held by many manufacturers, food 

 officials, and consumers that benzoic acid and benzoates are probably 

 the least harmful of the preservative substances employed. It is 

 believed that for this reason there has been a very large increase in 

 the use of these preservatives in the last few years, with a correspond- 

 ing decrease in the amount of other preservative substances employed. 

 It has also been claimed that there can be no reasonable objection to 

 the use of benzoic acid by reason of its natural occurrence in many 

 food products, either in traces or in considerable quantities. Among 

 the products cited the cranberry occupies the most prominent posi- 

 tion because of the notable amount of benzoic acid it contains. These 

 considerations, however, had no determining influence on the choice 

 of this substance for the experimental work, inasmuch as it was in- 



a By reason of the restrictions placed by law upon the printing and distribu- 

 tion of bulletins exceeding 100 pages, it is not possible to supply the demand for 

 Bulletin 84, Influence of Food Preservatives and Artificial Colors on Digestion 

 and Health, from the regular edition. In order to give as wide a circulation as 

 possible to the results of the experimental work, it has been deemed advisable, 

 in the case of Part IV, on Benzoic Acid and Benzoates, as in preceding studies 

 on boric acid and borates, salicylic acid and salicylates, sulphurous acid and 

 sulphites (Circulars 15, 31, and 37, respectively), to publish the results in the 

 form of a circular for general distribution. 

 43056 Cir. 3908 



OF THE 



UNIVERSITY 



