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Common additives like sugar, salt, vinegar and alcohol have been used as preservatives for centuries, but modern-day food labels now reveal more unfamiliar ingredients such as sodium benzoate, calcium propionate, and potassium sorbate.

At issue is the labeling of canisters of grated Parmesan cheese that also contain cellulose to prevent caking or potassium sorbate to prevent mold.

But they also contain potassium sorbate, a preservative that prolongs shelf life and prohibits the growth of many molds and yeasts.

Workers combine it in an industrial mixer with brown sugar syrup, water, potassium sorbate and guar gum, to produce a damp, caramel-colored powder.

What shouldn’t be celebrated, he said, is packaged hummus filled with preservatives like potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate or citric acid.