(photo courtesy of pdphoto.org)

Research from Great Britain's Sheffiled University has led to a severe warning about the dangers of soft drinks consumed by millions of people around the world. The chief culprit is the ingredient sodium benzoate, a preservative used in many of the most popular sodas on the market.

Peter Piper, a Professor of molecular biology and biotechnology reported,

These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA...here is a whole array of diseases that are now being tied to damage to this DNA - Parkinson's and quite a lot of neuro-degenerative diseases, but above all the whole process of ageing...The food industry will say these compounds have been tested and they are completely safe...By the criteria of modern safety testing, the safety tests were inadequate. Like all things, safety testing moves forward and you can conduct a much more rigorous safety test than you could 50 years ago...My concern is for children who are drinking large amounts.

Sodium benzoate has already been the subject of concern about cancer because when mixed with the additive vitamin C in soft drinks, it causes benzene, a carcinogenic substance.

If you'd like to read an article on the findings in Britain's The Independent go to: Caution: Some soft drinks may seriously harm your health