Food preservatives are a large class of food additives that generally prevent microbiological spoilage. Sodium acetate (SA) and sodium sulfite (SS) are food preservatives, and the aim of this study was to investigate their genotoxic and cytotoxic effects. The genotoxic effects of SA and SS were examined by chromosomal aberrations (CA) and micronucleus (MN) assays in human lymphocytes in vitro. In addition, the effects of these two preservative additives on mitotic index (MI) and nuclear division index (NDI) were also investigated. SA and SS significantly induced CAs and MN frequencies and caused a decrease in MI especially at higher concentrations. Neither food preservative caused any change in the NDI. In the light of the data obtained, it was concluded that SA and SS may have cytotoxic and genotoxic effects on human lymphocytes, especially at high concentrations. Therefore, their use at lower concentrations, which may be safer, should be encouraged.