Eating Preservatives Seemed to Raise This Cancer Risk in a New French Study

In recent years, much of the conversation about the link between cancer and food preservatives has focused on the link with colorectal cancer. Statistically, that’s warranted, and it’s also somewhat intuitive. In our minds, it makes sense that the food we eat could affect such an important part of the digestive system.

That said, a recent study has drawn a connection between a variety of preservatives and overall increased cancer risk, while certain preservatives appeared to contribute to an increase in breast and prostate cancers.

Publishing their work in the October 2025 peer-reviewed British Medical Journal, a sizable group of researchers from universities, health agencies, and healthcare institutions in France analyzed data on more than 105,000 participants, a substantial sample size, to assess the “cumulative time-dependent intake of preservatives.”

The team meticulously tracked what participants ate, figured out how much of each preservative they consumed, grouped them by intake level, and then looked at whether higher intake correlated with increased cancer incidence after accounting for other lifestyle factors.

The team then reported: “Higher intakes of several preservatives were associated with higher cancer incidence.” Namely, they say, overall cancer risk, breast cancer risk, and prostate cancer risk:

Potassium sorbate

• 14% increased risk of overall cancer
• 26% increased risk of breast cancer

Sodium nitrite

• 32% increased risk of prostate cancer

Sulfites

• 12% increased risk of overall cancer

Acetic acid 

• 12% increased risk of overall cancer

The researches highlighted several foods and beverages that accounted for the highest levels of preservative intake: 85% of sulfites came from alcoholic beverages, and more than 50% of both nitrites and nitrates came from processed meats (which did not include chicken or red meat). Potassium sorbate can be found in items such as canned or jarred fruits and vegetables.

In this study, foods that fell on the safer end of the scale were nuts, seeds, dried fruits, dairy, potatoes, and other root vegetables.

In conclusion, the team reports: “[…T]he findings support recommendations for consumers to favour freshly made, minimally processed foods.”

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