http://news.independent.co.uk/health/article258665...Research from a British university suggests a common preservative found in some soft drinks has the ability to switch off vital parts of DNA. Sodium benzoate derives from benzoic acid. It occurs naturally in berries, but is used in large quantities to prevent mould.
"These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it.. The mitochondria consumes the oxygen to give you energy and if you damage it - as happens in a number if diseased states - then the cell starts to malfunction very seriously. And there 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."
