Researchers Seek Phosphate Additive Labeling on Foods
German researchers claim that “elevated serum phosphate concentrations have recently been found to be correlated with mortality in patients with chronic renal failure, while high-normal serum phosphate concentrations have been found to be correlated with cardiovascular morbidity in the general population.” Eberhard Ritz, et al., “Phosphate Additives in Food—a Health Risk,” Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, 2012. Noting that naturally occurring phosphate in foods, “including meat, potatoes, bread, and other farinaceous products,” is not completely absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract and thereby poses less concern, the researchers contend that “inorganic phosphate in food additives is effectively absorbed and can measurably elevate the serum phosphate concentration in patients with CKD [chronic kidney disease].”
According to the authors, foods with large amounts of added phosphate
include processed meats, canned fish, cheeses, baked goods, and cola
beverages and other soft drinks. The ingredient is apparently added as a
preservative, acidifying agent and buffer, and emulsifying agent, and to
intensify flavors.
Because phosphate amounts are not required on food labels, consumers
have no way to limit their phosphate intake, which the researchers contend
should not exceed 1,000 mg daily. The principle pathophysiological effect of
phosphate is apparently vascular damage, and the researchers concluded that
foods with added phosphate “tend to be eaten by persons at the lower end
of the socioeconomic scale, who consume more processed and ‘fast’ food.”
While the researchers are uncertain whether “the association of a high serum
phosphate concentration with increased morbidity and mortality reflects a
direct toxic effect of phosphate or is rather due to pathological concentrations
of the phosphate-regulating hormones FDF23 and klotho,” they suggest
that “traffic-light” food labeling for the additive, public education about the
additive’s potential effects, as well as “a quantitative restriction of phosphate
additives” would be desirable.
