Caredermis

Sodium Benzoate

Severity 2/10Editorial

preservative

Is Sodium Benzoate safe?

Sodium Benzoate carries only minor concerns (irritation) at typical cosmetic levels.

In plain language

A food-grade preservative generally regarded as one of the gentler options; occasional non-immune stinging is its main drawback.

A Caredermis plain-language explanation to help you read the label — not a regulator statement. The sourced facts are the classifications and status shown on this page.

Documented concerns

Concerns marked Editorialare Caredermis' own dermatological review; the rest are drawn from official data — see the cited sources ↓

Irritation

Editorial2/10

Can cause transient, non-allergic flushing/stinging on reactive skin.

Official regulatory status

Pulled directly from official regulatory datasets and expert reviews — not our own judgement.

EU-permitted preservative (max a) 2.5% (acid) b) 1.7% (acid) c) 0.5% (acid))CIR: reviewed safe

EU SCCS safety opinions

  • · Opinion concerning Restrictions on Materials listed in annex VI of Directive 76/768/EEC on Cosmetic Products
  • · Opinion on Benzoic Acid and Sodium Benzoate
Read SCCS opinions ↗

Guidance by skin profile

Caredermis editorial guidance based on the concerns above — checked against the official records on every build, but not itself a regulator statement.

  • Sensitive skinNo specific concern
  • Oily & acne-proneNo specific concern
  • Dry skinNo specific concern
  • PregnancyNo specific concern
  • Babies & kidsNo specific concern
  • Eczema-proneNo specific concern

Sources

Each authority below is shown only because our ingested copy of its data lists Sodium Benzoate — not because we asserted it. Follow a link to verify the classification or regulation directly.

CIR conclusion from the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Quick Reference Table — cir-safety.org (snapshot in data/sources/)(point-in-time snapshot; CIR's live record may have been updated since).

See our methodology for how these map to concern levels. Informational only — not medical advice.

Products in our library containing Sodium Benzoate

Related ingredients

Ingredients with a similar role or shared type of concern — useful for comparing what's on your label.

Checking a specific product? Paste its full ingredient list and we'll analyze everything at once.