Shonky Science Journalism #1: Benzene in soft drink

I get ticked off at poor science reporting. The last time that I was going to start of a series on shonky science journalism, channel Ten claimed that the Hubble Space Telescope had sent beams billions of light years into space. Billions of light years; i.e. a distance that would take billions of years for said beams to travel!

These people need to employ a good science editor. But enough of Ten’s cosmic goof-up and on to a slightly more detailed piece of junk science.

This one is an oft-repeated meme. It comes in various forms and with various pieces of “info”, usually incomplete or even outright false. It’s the benzene in soft drink meme and it’s had a fuel injection thanks to the distortion of some recent (somewhat preliminary) research.

“A common preservative found in many soft drinks can cause serious cell damage and fatal illness, according to a UK study revealed last night.

Research indicates that sodium benzoate, an ingredient in many soft drinks and sauces, has the ability to deactivate parts of DNA and eventually cause diseases such as Parkinson’s and cirrhosis of the liver.“

(NineMSN, 2007)

This is the somewhat reasonable (if a tad alarmist) part of the meme. NineMSN bases this claim on an interview between Prof. Peter Piper (a real professor, not an Internet hoax) and The Independent newspaper from the UK. A pity NineMSN doesn’t give the name of the report it cites. Shonky journalism that.

And speaking of shonky;

“Peter Piper, a professor of molecular biology and biotechnology who has been studying sodium benzoate for eight years at Sheffield University, found that the preservative seriously damages living cells.“

(NineMSN, 2007)

Which automatically means that sodium benzoate is harmful to humans? A little context could help. What specifically was Peter Piper talking about when he pointed this out?

Back in 2001, Piper and Mollapour wrote a paper for Molecular Microbiology that pointed out the capacity for Zygosaccharomyces bailii to break down benzoate, i.e. they were potentially resistant to it. Why is this important? Because sodium benzoate is added to foods to kill (i.e. “seriously damage”) Zygosaccharomyces bailii (i.e. “living cells”); the desired result.

NineMSN’s attribution to Piper doesn’t distinguish between the desired and the allegedly deleterious properties of sodium benzoate.

At no point further into NineMSN’s reporting do the talk about toxic levels of sodium benzoate required for the damage of mitochondrial DNA in humans. Heck, H2O is toxic in large enough amounts. OMG! Soft drink has H20 in it!

Of course, if you pay attention to what Piper (and Nine’s own media doctor) are saying, they have concerns about sodium benzoate’s safety and quite reasonably want to see more research. What they don’t say is “could even cause death!”, as shrieked by Nine’s televisual journalism.

But this is only the benzoate part of the meme, the real wacky stuff is where benzene (i.e. not the salt/preservative) is alleged to be a serious health concern is soft drinks. Pure junk science. Pure fraud.

“The additive has been the subject of controversy for some time. Last year it was revealed that a chemical reaction between sodium benzoate and vitamin C creates benzene, a carcinogenic chemical.“

(NineMSN, 2007)

Wrong. False. Misleading.

Firstly trace amounts (i.e. not enough to warrant you pooping your pants) of benzene can form when both sodium benzoate and ascorbic acid in soft drinks are subject to periods of elevated temperature and/or light. A fact not revealed last year, but one that was first published by the FDA in the US back in 1993.

This release date is important to note because most of what the media have been reporting about benzene in soft drinks has come from two sources; firstly a Internet chain letter warning of the dangers of benzene in soft drink and secondly a campaign by the “Environmental Working Group”. The latter source, and sometimes the former allege that the FDA suppressed knowledge of the formation of benzene, which is ludicrous considering the FDA’s 1993 publication of the details.

Not that I want benzene in my soft drink, and would certainly like to know if a batch had above allowable safe levels, it’s just that it’s all a bit Fox Mulder if you know what I mean. Rather than target manufacturers and regulators with conspiracy theories, retailers and distributors should be monitored to make sure they don’t let their stock overheat because that’s where the potential risk lay. Just another food storage consideration for health inspectors to monitor.

The deplorable thing that NineMSN has done in addition to being misleading about benzene in drinks though is to place some of Prof. Piper’s after the above benzene quote to make it look like he’s talking about benzene in drinks. He wasn’t. He was talking about sodium benzoate. The salt. See for yourself;

““The additive has been the subject of controversy for some time. Last year it was revealed that a chemical reaction between sodium benzoate and vitamin C creates benzene, a carcinogenic chemical.

“The food industry will say these compounds [benzene?] have been tested and they are complete (sic) safe,” Prof Piper said. “By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago.”“

(NineMSN, 2007)

Piper is quite reasonable in all of his assertions. It takes really shonky journalism to extend his assertions to the conspiracy theory doomsday proportions that Nine is pushing.

Well that’s my first Shonky Science Journalism entry wrapped up.

~ Bruce

PS. Check out some of The Independent’s work for a game of “spot-the-paragraphs-that-Nine-plagiarised”.