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An excerpt from my book: Don’t ask me to use Leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate!

Preservatives are essential to the health of the consumer; they prevent the growth of bacteria and mold on the products that you apply to your skin. But the pressure to hide the preservatives from the ingredient lists is very strong, with some people who don’t know about bacteria and mold insisting that preservatives are not necessary. The answer of honest companies is to explain the need for preservatives and to remind the consumer that a piece of bread, even when kept in the fridge, will eventually be covered in mold and bacteria. Dishonest manufacturers, on the other hand, hide the preservatives in a variety of manners.

How can a Lactobacillus (or Leuconostoc) ferment be used as a preservative? Lactobacillus ferment is what I would call the yogurt you eat every day. Leave yogurt in the fridge long enough and another bacteria and mold will grow on it. How can such a ferment be used as a preservative, at a very low concentration, to extend the life of a skin care product? It can’t. But it is possible to cheat. Yogurt is a fermentation product of milk made by the activity of Lactobacillus. Just as yogurt is made, the Lactobacillus bacterium can be added to a soup that contains a synthetic chemical, undecylenic acid, which has anti-fungal activity. The name will still be Lactobacillus/radish root ferment filtrate. I have nothing against the use of synthetic chemicals or undecylenic acid, but I think it is fraud to hide preservatives in a way that causes the consumer to believe he/she is buying a natural product.

I’m sure that many companies that use this “natural” preservative and call their finished product “natural” don’t know that this is not natural. However, ignorance shouldn’t be an excuse, and manufacturers of skin care products should know their ingredients! When you buy a product containing Leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, you should know that you are buying a product that contains synthetic preservatives. I am sure many more preservatives using this nomenclature loophole will keep coming, at least until the consumers wise up. How about elderberry or Japanese honeysuckle as bases? The nicer the name, the more “granola crunch” the name will be, but the name does not make the preservative any more natural.

References

von Woedtke T, Schlüter B, Pflegel P, Lindequist U, Jülich WD. (1999) Aspects of the antimicrobial efficacy of grapefruit seed extract and its relation to preservative substances contained. Pharmazie, 54:452-6.

Jing Li, Chaytor JL, Findlay B, McMullen LM, Smith, DC, Vederas JC (2015) Identification of Didecyldimethylammonium salts and salicylic acid as antimicrobial compounds in commercial fermented radish kimchi . J. Agric. Food Chem., 63:3053–3058