I’ve heard a lot of amusing stories about this one and as I explain more about this word you’ll see why. Préservatif is similar to the word preservative in English. Generally, when we ask if food has preservatives we’re referring to a chemical-based ingredient added to food to prolong its freshness. Préservatif is one of those “faux-amis”, (words that are the same in both languages but have very different meanings).