In the late 1960s the hippies were complaining about preservatives in foods, specifically BHT. A few years later when it got popular for life extension people the older hippies were eating the stuff my the spoonful. Hilarious.
As with most anything, at the right quantity it can be very useful amongst it, subdue certain viral infection especially when it comes to lipid covered viruses. In larger quantities it can cause damage. Unfortunately common sense has been depleted very rapidly.