Sodium benzoate is mostly white particles, odorless or slightly benzoin odor, slightly sweet taste, with astringency; easily soluble in water (normal temperature) about 53.0g / 100ml, PH around 8. Sodium benzoate is also an acidic preservative. It has no sterilization and bacteriostatic effects in alkaline media; its optimal pH for preservative is 2.5-4.0.

Sodium benzoate is a preservative.   It is bacteriostatic and fungistatic under acidic conditions.   It is used most prevalently in acidic foods such as salad dressings (vinegar), carbonated drinks (carbonic acid), jams and fruit juices (citric acid), pickles (vinegar), and condiments.   It is also found in alcohol-based mouthwash and silver polish.  It can also be found in cough syrups like Robitussin.  Sodium benzoate is declared on a product label as sodium benzoate.   It is also used in fireworks as a fuel in whistle mix, a powder which emits a whistling noise when compressed into a tube and ignited.