Re‐evaluation of phosphoric acid–phosphates – di‐, tri‐ and polyphosphates (E 338–341, E 343, E 450–452) as food additives and the safety of proposed extension of use

Abstract

The Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings added to Food (FAF) provided a scientific opinion re-evaluating the safety of phosphates (E 338-341, E 343, E 450-452) as food additives. The Panel considered that adequate exposure and toxicity data were available. Phosphates are authorised food additives in the EU in accordance with Annex II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008. Exposure to phosphates from the whole diet was estimated using mainly analytical data. The values ranged from 251 mg P/person per day in infants to 1,625 mg P/person per day for adults, and the high exposure (95th percentile) from 331 mg P/person per day in infants to 2,728 mg P/person per day for adults. Phosphate is essential for all living organisms, is absorbed at 80-90% as free orthophosphate excreted via the kidney. The Panel considered phosphates to be of low acute oral toxicity and there is no concern with respect to genotoxicity and carcinogenicity. No effects were reported in developmental toxicity studies. The Panel derived a group acceptable daily intake (ADI) for phosphates expressed as phosphorus of 40 mg/kg body weight (bw) per day and concluded that this ADI is protective for the human population. The Panel noted that in the estimated exposure scenario based on analytical data exposure estimates exceeded the proposed ADI for infants, toddlers and other children at the mean level, and for infants, toddlers, children and adolescents at the 95th percentile. The Panel also noted that phosphates exposure by food supplements exceeds the proposed ADI. The Panel concluded that the available data did not give rise to safety concerns in infants below 16 weeks of age consuming formula and food for medical purposes.

Stabilization of Palygorskite Aqueous Suspensions Using Bio-Based and Synthetic Polyelectrolytes

“…Polyphosphate is traditionally used as a dispersing agent for clay suspensions [ 43 ]. This compound presents a very low pKa value, being ionized and very negatively charged in the entire range of studied pH [ 44 ]. It was thus expected that it could act as a good dispersing/stabilizing agent even at low pH, even though an excess of negative charge may also limit a good interaction with the also negatively charged clay particles at higher pH values.…”

Ultra-Processed Food Consumption is Associated with Renal Function Decline in Older Adults: A Prospective Cohort Study

“…Some food additives from UPF, particularly phosphates, deserve a mention [ 55 ]. Unlike organic phosphorus, which is present in plant-based food (with low phosphorus availability due to phytate content) [ 56 ], inorganic phosphate is present in many UPF as an additive, and has a very high bioavailability [ 57 , 58 ]. This is why inorganic phosphate is disproportionately high in westernized diets compared with organic phosphorus from natural food sources [ 57 ].…”

Improving Colloidal Stability of Sepiolite Suspensions: Effect of the Mechanical Disperser and Chemical Dispersant

“…From the synthetic options studied, polyphosphate demonstrated to be the more effective, presenting better results than CMC in the case of sepiolite 2, but worse results in the case of sepiolite 1. Polyphosphate has a very low pKa value, being ionized and negatively charged in the entire range of studied pH [35]. It was expected that this compound could act as a good dispersing/stabilizing agent in the studied range.…”