This common food preservative may be bad for your gut health

Scientists are cautioning that nisin, a widely used food preservative, could be compromising gut health, potentially affecting the delicate balance of our microbiome.

Nisin, an antimicrobial preservative found in various food products like beer, cheese, and dipping sauces, is made by bacteria to combat microbial competition. Termed "lantibiotics" due to their composition of bacteria-derived lantipeptides, these compounds, effective in preventing food-related diseases, may be inadvertently harming beneficial gut microbes.

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Zhenrun "Jerry" Zhang, a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Chicago, brought focus on the lack of comprehensive studies on how Nisin impacts our gut microbiome. Despite its success in averting food contamination, concerns arise regarding its potential repercussions on human gut health.

The study was published in the journal ACS Chemical Biology.

'Good' bacteria are important for gut health

The gut microbiome, comprising essential "good" bacteria, plays a pivotal role in digestion, immunity, and mental well-being.

Eradicating these beneficial microbes may lead to severe consequences for overall health, creating an opportunity for harmful bacteria to flourish without competition.

What did Zhang and colleagues find?

Zhang and colleagues isolated gut-derived lantibiotics, revealing their impact on both disease-causing and beneficial gut bacteria. Surprisingly, the "good" gut microbes proved as susceptible to lantibiotics as the pathogens causing diseases, suggesting potential risks to gut health.

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Zhang explained, "[Our] study is one of the first to show that gut commensals are susceptible to lantibiotics, and are sometimes more sensitive than pathogens. With the levels of lantibiotics currently present in food, it's very probable that they might impact our gut health as well."

This research builds upon earlier studies linking nisin consumption to alterations in the gut microbiome.

Earlier, a study from Ireland's University College Cork, published in Nature Scientific Reports, found that even low concentrations of nisin can traverse the gastrointestinal tract, modifying the gut microbiome in the lower intestine.

But these changes were found to be reversible, with normal microbiome populations returning within three days of nisin consumption.

(With inputs from agencies)