[1466] 200: Burning mouth syndrome due to preservative potassium sorbate 202 (December 2017)

I've just found your article about preservative 202, so now we know why my daughter always get the tingling sensation in her tongue and burning mouth every time she eats the Hommus Dip from Aldi. So bad that she cannot eat it anymore. We went through the ingredient list, it never occurred to us that the last ingredient which was 202 could be the offender!!! We all thought this was caused by her being allergic to sesame, which is also present in the dip, but the mystery is that she could eat sesame in other foods??? Now the mystery is solved!!! Thank you! - Mary

(Sue's comment: Sorbate preservatives in cosmetics and skin creams are known to cause skin irritation - a burning and stinging sensation of the skin - and contact dermatitis in some users. Similarly, when used as preservatives in foods, sorbates can cause stinging and burning in the mouth. This is known as Burning Mouth Syndrome. The sorbate group includes sorbic acid 200, sodium sorbate 201, potassium sorbate 202, and calcium sorbate 203. See sorbate factsheet for more information)