73. Avoid Sodium Benzoate (64 Non Drug Ways to lower Blood Pressure).

A century ago, the restrictions on addition of chemicals to food was pretty weak, and lot of food additives have never been studied.  Research from a British university suggests a common preservative, sodium benzoate, found in drinks such as Fanta and Pepsi Max has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA, or even to damage DNA.  A number of drink manufactures apparently are quietly dropping the substance from their product list.   A possible danger is also salt load it may induce on those with hypertension.  The general rule of thumb is that if you don’t know what the additive is, or how it might affect you, avoid it.

http://www.spafromscratch.com/?p=4041
http://www.livestrong.com/article/488257-the-dangers-of-sodium-benzoate/
http://www.naturalnews.com/sodium_benzoate.html