A major European study has linked eight commonly used food preservatives to significantly elevated risks of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease — including some preservatives marketed as "natural" — in findings published in the European Heart Journal and republished by ScienceDaily on June 18, 2026.
The study, conducted by researchers from INSERM (the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research) and the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at the Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, tracked 112,395 participants through the French NutriNet-Santé cohort for up to eight years. Researchers analyzed participants' exposure to 58 different food preservatives, focusing on 17 preservatives consumed by at least 10% of the population, and measured incident hypertension and cardiovascular disease outcomes.
