If you are eating cereal, there is a chance you are eating the main ingredient in paint thinner, Trisodium Phosphate (TSP).
Direct contact of TSP can cause irritation of the skin, eye, respiratory and digestive tract(1).
Why is it allowed in food?
TSP is an inorganic phosphate additive that is generally recognized as safe (GRAS) by the FDA. Amounts allowed in food are less than or equal to 0.5%, higher amounts may negatively affect the flavor of meat/fish and may increase ingestion of sodium and phosphorus (2).
In 2019 General Mills shared the addition of this additive in a twitter post.
They are correct in saying it is a type of salt and is used in more than just cereal. You can find this chemical in: fast food cheeses, sausages, fish, seafoods. As a food additive TSP acts as a stabilizer, moisturizer and sequestrant in sausages.
Example of what a phosphorus additive does
Below is a picture of squid noodles that were treated with a phosphorus additive (right image). The image on the left is without the addition.
Do you need to avoid foods with TSP?
Small amounts of TSP are safe. However, the “small” part of that sentence may be why TSP could be a problem.
To understand the potential risk of TSP we have to revisit the fact that it is an inorganic phosphorus additive.
Organic or naturally occurring phosphorus is found in meats and plants. Your body is only able to absorb about 40-60% of the phosphorus found naturally in foods. Absorption rates increased to greater than 90% when ingested in inorganic forms like TSA (3). Though phosphorus is an important mineral, amounts exceeding 4,000 mg a day are considered toxic. High levels of phosphorus can increase risk for cardiovascular disease, and is a major mineral of concern for those with renal disease. (4)
What to do?
- Remove Highly Processed foods from the diet.
Removing highly processed foods from ones diet will decrease exposure to TSA and other phosphorus additives.
Summary
Eat less fast food and Junk Food. Eat more home cooked food. Simple as that.
Sources
- https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Trisodium-phosphate#datasheet=LCSS§ion=GHS-Classification
- http://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20171031050631/https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/IngredientsPackagingLabeling/GRAS/NoticeInventory/UCM269346.pdf
- https://www.jrnjournal.org/article/S1051-2276(16)30044-9/fulltext