Effects of Selected Food and Pharmaceutical Preservatives on Glycemic Parameters: An Experimental Study in Rats

In this study, an in vivo assessment of fixed doses of selected preservatives was conducted over 3 months to evaluate their impact on glycemic parameters in Wistar rats, including body weight, fasting blood glucose (FBG), insulin levels, and insulin resistance through the HOMA‐IR indicator. All test groups exhibited a normal increase in body weight compared with a referenced growth chart, and no significant differences were observed. Sodium benzoate, calcium propionate, and titanium dioxide had significant effects (p ≤ 0.05) on increasing the FBG levels in rats, whereas the potassium sorbate results were statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). The 3 months’ cumulative dose of 990 mg of calcium propionate and titanium dioxide resulted in a significant (p ≤ 0.05) effect on increasing the FBG levels and HOMA‐IR values compared to the control. On the other hand, titanium dioxide showed a statistically significant effect (p ≤ 0.05) on insulin resistance, complementing its significance on FBG results. These findings highlight the concerns regarding the preservatives commonly present in both pharmaceutical and food products regarding human glycemic parameters and blood glucose levels. The potential influence of these preservatives on human health, particularly their association with metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus (DM), is an area of concern that requires the health authorities to take serious actions on limiting their usage. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few studies examining the health impact of preservatives found in food and pharmaceutical products on DM, which can be referenced for the public and related institutions to effectively make policies and regulations for public health.