I like to read food labels; I find them fascinating, especially when the list of ingredients seems long enough to contain a plot character development. As a general rule, I try to steer clear of foods made with ingredients that have lengthy confusing names. When researching for the yogurt breakdown, I saw tricalcium phosphate on the Dannon yogurt label. The name reminded me of sodium bicarbonate, aka baking soda, but I was fairly certain these two ingredients are not related at all.
I did a little poking around and found that tricalcium phosphate is calcium salt of citric acid. It's added to foods to act as a firming or anti-caking agent, or as an acidity regulator. Companies also add it to their products to increase the calcium content (Dannon told me this when I phoned them). That's why calcium supplements sometimes contain tricalcium phosphate as well. You may find this ingredient in foods such as dairy products, wine, carbonated beverages, powdered spices, candy and jams. Reduced fat liquid foods may also contain this ingredient, to add smoothness and an opaque color.
Want to hear more about this ingredient? Then read more.
The funny thing is, Dannon Fruit Blends Yogurt (which contains tricalcium phosphate) has 20 percent calcium, and Stonyfield Farms Fat Free Yogurt (which doesn't contain this ingredient), has 30 percent calcium. If tricalcium phosphate is being added to increase the amount of calcium, then shouldn't Dannon have more? It just doesn't make sense. Also, it seems that tricalcium phosphate is used in a lot of processed foods that contain some not-so-healthy ingredients (what's with the red 40 and high fructose corn syrup in the Dannon yogurt?). So for that reason, I think I'll stick to foods made with actual food ingredients.
Camper
Make Up For Ever
Fred Perry
Interesting...
1I like their all natural yogurt.
2"tricalcium phosphate is calcium salt of citric acid." I love this site but when I see glaring mistakes it makes we wonder about how accurate the information is on this site.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citric_acid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tricalcium_phosphate
They are not the same things.
3Maybe the Dannon would have had even less Ca without the Ca3PO4, but that's just my theory. I wonder if Stoneyfield farms maybe uses a different Ca supplement in their yogurt...calcium carbonate is also sometimes added to foods to add calcium.
4I wonder if the tricalcium phosphate is in a form that is usable by the body? If it is not usable by the body then it would not show in the total calcium in the food label.
5First of all, yogurt is a dairy product and therefore has calcium without adding anything. I think it's used in this product as an anti-caking agent, although how do all the other yogurt brands manage then, without it? Just fine, I think.
Secondly, the ingredient you should really be concerned with is the insidious high fructose corn syrup - the crack cocaine of the food industry. So many people are not concerned when they see this ingredient because they see it in everything and think "it can't be so bad then". That speaks volumes about the FDA. Also, believing that, because is it originated from corn, it is natural, is a horrible misconception. This ingredient is engineered. It is a super-sugar and a major contributor to the epidemic of diabetes and obesity in this county.
Sad they have now tainted something so healthy and innocent as yogurt.
6Clearly you poked arround in the wrong places! Tricalcium Phosphate is found in rocks, mainly in the Middle East. The most common source that is widely used in foods comes from bone, animal bone or known as bone ash and is the combustable part of the bones. Thus used in foods for anti-caking. The primary use for Tricalcium Phosphate is for dental, porcelain and dental powders. Other uses are in ferterlizers, calcium supplements etc. Did you really think all of the 500 million cattle slautterd each year, that they would not find a use for all of those bones. Perhaps you should poke arround a little more uh.
7P.S.
Tricalcium Phosphate (Bone Ash)- most commonly used, is not been proven to increase calcium in anything it is put in. I think you need to bone up on this subject matter!
Tricalcium Phosphate is an effective way to get calcium enrichment without adding saturated fat. Tricalcium Phosphate also helps to maximize calcium absorption in the body instead of it just flushing through the system. The entire Calcium Phosphate family is used in our foods. Mono, Di and Tri. Trical is used as a flow agent in many "lite" or "fat-free" yogurts to mantain the texture that we all enjoy without the clumping that would occur without the fat content.
8Also, Tricalcium Phosphate produced by my company has nothing to do with animal bones! It is food grade, Kosher certified, Halal certified and soon to be Organically Certified. Perhaps YOU should poke around a little more. It is used in food, pet food, chocolate, sugars, flours, cosmetics, body powders, cheese, all kinds of dry mixes, yogurts, soy milk, ice cream etc. It is also used for oral care and tablet manufacturing, and review is under way to use tricalcium phosphate in conjunction with insulin to give our diabetic friends an oral option for their insulin.
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