Is Trisodium Phosphate Bad For You?
Also Known As: TSP
Short answer
Trisodium phosphate is probably safe in food.
A fairly even ratio of beneficial and harmful qualities. Moderation is important. Very general topics that can lean towards both sides of the spectrum will be placed here as well. Rice, for example, can be good or bad depending on the type.
View Full Grading System
Category 'A'
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Side effects are rare. Things rated an 'A+' are typically necessary for survival (for example, water).
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. A few harmful qualities may be associated, but only under certain circumstances such as an allergic reaction.
Very healthy and numerous health benefits. Harmful qualities may be associated, but aren't usually serious.
It is important to note that even the best things in life can become bad in immoderate amounts. So, although something may be rated an 'A+', overconsumption/overdoing can bring unwanted effects.
Category 'B'
Very beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B+' may have a few harmful qualities to pay attention to.
Overall beneficial to your health. Things rated a 'B' may have some harmful qualities to pay attention to.
More beneficial to your health than not. However, harmful qualities are most likely associated and shouldn't be overlooked.
The main difference between category 'A' and category 'B' is the harmful qualities typically present in 'B' items. Serious side effects are usually uncommon, but are still possible and should be taken note of.
Category 'C'
Both beneficial and harmful qualities associated. Things rated a 'C+' are typically a bit more on the beneficial side. Still, moderation is important.
A fairly even ratio of beneficial and harmful qualities. Moderation is important. Very general topics that can lean towards both sides of the spectrum will be placed here as well. Rice, for example, can be good or bad depending on the type.
More harmful than beneficial. Side effects are common, especially when consumed/done excessively. Moderation is very important.
Category 'C' usually denotes to both good and bad qualities. When it comes to this category, it is important to keep this word in mind: moderation.
Category 'D'
Harmful to your health. Although benefits may be associated, the bad most likely outweighs the good. Moderation is very important.
Harmful to your health. A few benefits may be associated, but the bad outweighs the good. Moderation is extremely important.
Harmful to your health. Very few, if any, benefits are present. Things in this category should be avoided as much as possible.
Category 'D' is typically for things that are more harmful than beneficial. While consuming/doing something unhealthy once in a blue moon shouldn't hurt, we definitely recommend eliminating 'D' items as a regular part of your routine/diet.
Category 'F'
Category 'F' is for things that fail to bring anything beneficial to the table, and are very harmful to your health. We recommend completely avoiding anything in this category. Long-term side effects of 'F' items are usually very serious.
Category 'N'
'N' stands for neutral. Things placed into this category are generally (a) neither good nor bad for you, or (b) lack the necessary evidence to reach any conclusions.
Long answer
Trisodium phosphate is a non-toxic white salt that has many different applications. Tiny amounts are used in food to control acidity levels, and to mix oil and water as an emulsifier. In concentrated form, trisodium phosphate is used in a couple of industrial processes. Because it's extremely basic, it works well as a cleaning agent - you can use it for everything from wiping down a floor to disinfecting a wine barrel.
Understandably, that scares some people - why would a cleaning agent be used in their food? Seattleorganicrestaurants.com has a page to that effect, claiming that your kids (your kids!) are daily exposed to dangerous amounts of trisodium phosphate and that the only reason it hasn't yet been banned is that the experiments would be so gruesome as to never get the green light. Naturalsociety.com took the same argument a step further, calling trisodium phosphate an "industrial strength paint thinner" and implying that it's in your food at, well, industrial paint-thinning levels.
That's a dishonest argument. Trisodium phosphate, as discussed above, is very basic. It's also useful for emulsifying oils - breaking them up into tiny suspended droplets so they mix well with liquid solutions. The FDA has approved it as a food additive at a fraction of a percent of the overall product; thus, small amounts are used to make cereal dough less acidic (cereal dough is very acidic - it has a very low pH).
The reasons for small amounts of trisodium phosphate being useful in food - their high pH and emulsifying properties - are the same that much higher amounts are useful in cleaning. Get together hundreds or thousands of times as much trisodium phosphate as you consume in a week, and you can use it to thin paint by emulsifying the oils therein or to scrub grime off of a surface. The Clean Water Act regulates the release of these industrial concentrations of trisodium phosphate into bodies of water, just as they do with any concentrated substance that's very basic or acidic (The EPA regulates streams, not food, and this isn't an inter-agency disagreement between them and the FDA).
The key here is concentration - as they say, the difference between medicine and poison is the dose. A Coca-Cola once in a blue moon won't kill you; concentrate the phosphoric acid therein, however, and you can use it to clean your toilet. There's not enough trisodium phosphate in cereal to hurt you - because it's basic, it actually makes the cereal a bit less acidic, and thus slightly easier on your teeth or stomach ulcers. Provided you don't eat the concentrated salts you find at the hardware store, you'll be fine.
Commonly found in
- cereals
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processed meats
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processed cheeses
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canned foods
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cleaning agents
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lubricants
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stain removers
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degreasers
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