Abstract
Contents of benzoic acid in 3, 319 foods, dehydroacetic acid in 1, 468 foods, propionic acid in 1, 160 foods, and esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid in 2, 424 foods were analyzed for the samples collected at Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo, Kofu, Nagano, Osaka, Wakayama, Matsue and Kitakyushu from 1976 to 1981. The average intakes of these preservatives were calculated with using the results of the “National Nutrition Survey” carried out in 1980 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The total daily intakes per capita of benzoic acid, dehydroacetic acid, propionic acid and esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid were respectively 10.9 mg, 0.595 mg, 17.5 mg and 1.01 mg. When the analysis of the four preservatives were conducted in the 9 cities for one week on meals prepared according to the model menu, the aver- age daily intakes were respectively 0.400 mg, 0 mg, 0.177 mg and 0.141 mg. FAO/WHO evaluated the ADI of benzoic acid as 5 mg/kg, and esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid as 10 mg/kg, and assuming the average body weight of Japane e adult as 50 kg, it is allowed to take 250 mg of benzoic acid and 500 mg of esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid. Accordingly, it was found that the daily intakes of benzoic acid and esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid in Japan corresponded to 0.2-4.4% and 0.03-0.2% of the each ADI respectively.
