Pharmacokinetic and toxicological aspects of potassium sorbate food additive and its constituents

The synthetic food additives such as potassium sorbate (PS) are commonly used as a more effective protectant in food and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, increased chronic diseases generated more concerns in consumers and government about preservatives. Regarding contradictory results that has been attained via various studies on application of food additives, the exact monitoring of additives remains controversial by governments. Various research results showed that the increased PS intake (> 25 mg/kg) may lead to cytotoxic and genotoxic effects via producing mutagenic compounds and inducing chromosome aberrations, sister chromatid exchange, DNA breakage. The aforementioned factors can develop many chronic diseases especially diabetes mellitus, cancers and etc. Thus, it is necessary to investigate the effects of PS on public health and determine its mechanism of action on various organs and cells. Therefore, this article aimed to evaluate the PS safety through overview of its effects on various tissues, cells and biological macromolecules.