system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:If sodium benzoate mixed with vitamin C creates cancerous benzene, why is Sriracha sauce considered safe? AFAIK chilli contains insane amounts of vitamin C.

I've been asking this myself for a long time, and internet has zero answers about benzene in hot sauces.
gpt
Because only a tiny amount of sodium benzoate would be used as a preservative, much of the vitamin C will be destroyed by the cooking process so there's less for it to react with, benzene doesn't always form just because the two molecules are present in the same food and food itself is a lot less efficient as a chemical factory than an aqueous solution - which is why there is a lot more concern about benzoates in drinks than in food.   

Also, you inhale a lot more benzene than you're ever likely to ingest and there are 'safe'  limits set where exposure to toxic chemicals below that amount are unlikely to have a noticeable effect.