Health risk assessment of three preservatives in beverage, cake, ketchup, and therapeutic products available in Bangladesh using the new validated HPLC-PDA method

A simple, rapid, and sensitive HPLC-PDA method was established and validated to determine three preservatives in various foodstuffs and therapeutics. Chromatography was performed with a Shim-pack GIST C18 column (4.6 x 250 mm x 5 mu m) at a wavelength of 235 nm. Ammonium acetate (50 mM), acetonitrile, and methanol with a ratio of 45:15:40 were used as mobile phase, and the flow rate was 1.00 mL/min. The proposed method was validated as per ICH guidelines. The calibration curves were linear (r(2) >= 0.999) for benzoate, sorbate, and methylparaben within the working range of 5-80 mg/L. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were between 0.198-0.553 mg/L and 0.653-1.82 mg/L, respectively. Only one sample (S-21) exceeded the maximum permissible limit even though benzoate was found in 76.9% of beverages. The amount of sorbate in cakes exceeded the maximum limit (1000 mg/L) in 77.8% of samples. Benzoate was detected in all herbal and ketchup products, but sixteen (16) herbal and three (3) ketchup products exceeded the maximum permissible limit. All the tested food products were free from methylparaben, and none of the drugs contained sorbate. Recoveries of preservatives from spiked samples ranged from 94.7% to 109%. Chronic exposure to benzoate in tested herbal formulations may lead to severe health problems for body weight groups < 30 kg.