Exploring Calcium Propionate Safety in Food

August 20, 2024

Calcium propionate is a universally utilized food additive that serves specific purposes, primarily as a preservative. Despite being an essential component for preventing foods from developing bacteria and growth, it has been subject to much concern and criticism for being unsafe for consumption. Are these concerns valid? If so, why is calcium propionate still used in baked goods and dairy products? What do food safety authorities have to say about it? This article explores all that and more, uncovering the controversy around calcium propionate safety in food.

Understanding How Calcium Propionate Works

Identified as additive e282, calcium propionate has exemplary properties as a bacteria and mold inhibitor in food to which it is added. This ability of the chemical is derived from its capability of upsetting the ability of microorganisms to metabolize. Calcium propionate, when added to the dough in baked goods, dairy, or other products, can seep through the bacterial microbes’ cell wall, which in turn intervenes with their ability to produce energy. By doing so, calcium propionate restricts the ability of these microbes to multiply, thereby preserving food integrity.

Within the food industry, the ability of the chemical plays a pivotal role in ensuring that the shelf life of foods is enhanced. By preventing the growth of mold and bacteria, calcium propionate also protects safety and health as one of the most prominent bread additives.

Further reading: How Does Calcium Propionate Preservative Work?

Concerns Around Safety of Consumption

While it has been generally recognized as safe for consumption, calcium propionate has been subjected to a lot of concerns about its side effects. Like a lot of food additives, calcium propionate has caused some stir among consumers, which has called into question the safety of the additive. Some of the key concerns around it include the following:

Onset of Allergic Reactions

Some of the most common calcium propionate dangers associated with the consumption of the additive include experiencing headaches, stomach pain, rashes on the skin, bloating, migraines, or diarrhea. These effects typically can be observed by individuals who are allergic to the chemical or are sensitive to its consumption. However, the sensitivity usually pertains to allergies to preservatives in general, or propionates as a more specific subgroup. This indicates that the reaction is not caused specifically because of calcium propionate, but rather a whole class of chemicals.

Cancer Risk

Addressing concerns, several studies have been conducted to assess whether calcium propionate cancer threats are real and if it poses a risk as a carcinogen. The result of these studies has unanimously suggested that the additive does not pose any such danger. Studies conducted on animals have reflected no evidence that calcium propionate causes cancer. Similar human studies have reflected the same, classifying calcium propionate as a safe additive.

Toxicity Studies

Beyond carcinogenic identification, several toxicology studies have also been conducted on calcium propionate, reflecting that the substance is considerably non-toxic. When fed to animals in quantities much greater than considered safe for consumption, the chemical proved to be quite non-toxic. In fact, these studies also concluded that even larger amounts of consumption of calcium propionate do not show any adverse effects on health.

Impacting Children’s Behavior

Another one of the most significant concerns that raises the question ‘of is calcium propionate safe’ has been the impact it has on children. A critical side effect of the additive has been reported to be hyperactivity in children, as well as behavioral changes in them. These reports have been derived from small-scale studies, however, there is not enough evidence to back up the claims, and the requirement of a large-scale study is still unfulfilled to confirm these suspicions.

Gut Imbalance

Resources are now being invested in exploring whether calcium propionate causes any adverse impacts on the gut microbiome. While there is no conclusive evidence or research that suggests for certain that this is the case, speculations around this concern are strong. If studies find this to be true, it could be suggestive of the fact that calcium propionate does interfere with the normal functioning of the gut bacteria, leading to a potential for causing dysbiosis, and perhaps other health challenges as well.

While some of the concerns around calcium propionate have been debunked, others still need to be addressed to conclusively establish if the chemical poses any threat. Moreover, mild calcium propionate side effects such as gastrointestinal issues which emerge in the form of stomach pains or diarrhea, are extremely rare.

Is Calcium Propionate Safe to Consume?

Despite speculations, calcium propionate has been classified as a safe-to-consume food additive by leading global food standards authorities. For instance:

The US FDA has categorically put calcium propionate in the ‘generally recognized as safe (GRAS)’ classification. However, this applies to goods that have been produced with calcium propionate by using it in line with the good manufacturing practices guidelines. Manufacturers of food items need to ensure that they use the chemicals by these rules that have been established through a rigorous process and research.

The EFSA has also categorically validated calcium propionate as a safe-to-consume food additive. The authority has also taken several studies and in-depth research into account before giving the green signal to the additive and has established guidelines around its safe consumption limits.

Apart from these two major food standards regulatory authorities, other agencies, particularly those governing standards in Japan, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have also marked Calcium propionate as a safe-to-consume food additive. This approval comes as a result of multiple safety studies as well as a comparison with the existing guidelines of safety. Moreover, these nations have also charted robust guidelines regarding the safe consumption and usage of the additive to varied food products.

As is evident from this, leading global food safety authorities have given calcium propionate a clean chit, identifying it as a safe food additive for consumption by humans. However, there are strict guidelines regarding its consumption levels, which need to be followed, to ensure complete safety.

Regulations Around Consumption

Calcium propionate, like any other additive, is subject to a set of regulatory standards, which can alter across nations. These regulations pertain to its acceptable daily intake limits, its utilization, and more, some of which we will explore in the following section:

Intake Level Guidelines

One of the key regulatory guidelines that needs to be paid attention to is the acceptable intake limits daily. The recommended safe consumption limits of calcium propionate have been cited by several authorities as well.
For instance, the JECFA, or Joint WHO/FAO Expert Committee on Food Additives, has set the safe daily intake limits of calcium propionate to be between 0 to 10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight. Similarly, the EFSA has set the acceptable daily intake limit to 10 milligrams per kilogram of body weight, while the US FDA has set the daily acceptable consumption limit to be around 0.1% to 0.3% by weight.

Usage Level Guidelines

This primarily pertains to manufacturers who produce bulk amounts of foods for mass consumption. Since the public at large cannot be made responsible for checking every single ingredient, and it is the responsibility of the developer to ensure safety, the maximum usage amounts of calcium propionate have been set.
For instance, the European Union has set the limit to 3000 milligrams per kilogram in specific kinds of baked products. This means that calcium propionate used in bread and other baked goods covered under this rule, in this region (as far as the regulatory jurisdiction extends) needs to adhere to this guideline.

Conclusion

Although calcium propionate has been under a microscope for causing a wide range of side effects and being potentially highly risky, so far, there have been no conclusive studies which prove the same. It has been given a safe-to-consume recognition by global bodies which specialize in assessing which elements are safe to be consumed by a larger audience. As such, unless a person has a sensitivity to preservatives, they can without fear consume foods with calcium propionate, ensuring that their daily consumption is within permitted limits.