Natural and artificial preservatives are prevalent across various food categories, helping keep prices affordable while minimizing waste by limiting spoilage and prolonging shelf life.
Preservative-free glaucoma eye drops have been proven to reduce inflammation on the conjunctiva and BAK accumulation in patients with damaged ocular surfaces. Stock up on foods like raw vegetables and fruits, nuts varieties and grains from your produce section for best results.
Preservatives in Food
Preservatives in food help to prevent the harmful bacteria that cause illness and death from spoilage, while also acting to prevent oxidation, adding texture to foods and providing them with longer shelf lives. Common preservatives used include ascorbic acid (more commonly known as Vitamin C), sorbic acid, betanin and calcium phosphate as well as others.
Preservatives can be found in numerous foods. While some preservatives occur naturally, others are manufactured synthetically; natural preservatives typically come from plants, animals and microbes.
Preservatives used in food production can vary considerably. Some are safe; others could potentially be harmful. Sodium nitrate, for instance, is often an ingredient used in processed meat products like ham, bacon and luncheon meats; it has been linked with heart disease by hardening blood vessels and narrowing them further, possibly leading to heart attacks as well as diabetes – so it is essential that your produce be washed thoroughly using an efficient vegetable and fruit cleaner like KENT before being consumed.
Preservatives in Medicine
Preservatives have long been used in medicine to protect patients against bacteria, fungus, and mold infections as well as to safeguard medications from becoming contaminated with dangerous toxins.
Pharmaceutical companies have been exploring ways to decrease the amount of preservatives in their products while still finding safe and natural options that remain effective.
One way of doing so is combining preservatives into more effective combinations that will remain safe for patients. Such combinations typically take into account factors like pH level and types of microorganism likely present; the octanol:water partition coefficient (logP) can also help determine which preservatives will work best.
Antimicrobial preservatives may be required by regulatory bodies such as the European Medicines Agency to meet performance standards outlined in pharmaceutical pharmacopoeias for multidose liquid or semisolid products, but their inclusion often requires special justification due to possible side effects on humans.
Preservatives in Eye Drops
Eye drops with preservatives help prevent bacteria from accumulating after you open them, but their chemicals may irritate both eyes and contact lenses, making preservative-free drops the better choice if you wear contacts.
Some lubricating drops contain soft preservatives that are gentler on the eye, such as sodium chloride, sodium perborate and polyquad. Multi-dose bottles use these preservatives which eventually break down to oxygen, water and salt over time.
Some doctors advise patients with severe dry eye syndrome and other conditions that compromise corneal surfaces to use drops free of chemical preservatives, especially the longer they spend in direct contact with their eye surface. According to the TFOS DEWS II Iatrogenic Dry Eye Report, switching from preservative-containing drops to those without them was found to significantly decrease signs and symptoms. Also, prolonged contact between BAK (benzalkonium chloride) and cornea can damage it up to seven ways while more gentle solutions like Sorbate or Polyquad are much safer options.
Preservatives in Contact Lenses
Adherence to prescribed contact lens solutions can prevent serious eye conditions and infections. Contact lenses must be handled carefully when handling, inserting, removing and storing to avoid an increase in potential infections.
Modern multipurpose solutions (MPSs) contain various preservatives to prevent microbial contamination of contact lenses, and for disinfection purposes of worn and unused contact lenses. While such chemicals have proven highly effective against pathogens in some patients, some may cause allergic reactions in others.
Polyhexamethylene biguanide hydrochloride (PHMB), one of the most frequently used preservatives in MPS, works against bacteria and fungi by disrupting cell membranes; however, studies have found it often leads to corneal staining due to uptake by soft contact lens materials; its uptake will depend upon their material properties such as osmoticity. As an alternative solution to preservative chemicals such as this, non-preserved saline solutions may provide no adverse affect on either eye nor lenses – another chemical option may be non-preserved saline solutions which will not harm either the eye nor lenses
