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The True Nature of Tricalcium Phosphate Used as Food Additive (E341(iii))

Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) is a food additive, labeled E341(iii), used in powdered food preparation, such as baby formula. In the United States, calcium phosphate nano-objects were identified in baby formula extractions. Our goal is to determine whether the TCP food additive, as is used in Europe, c...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: El Moussaoui, Youssef, Terrisse, Hélène, Quillard, Sophie, Ropers, Marie-Hélène, Humbert, Bernard
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10303396/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37368253
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nano13121823
Descripción
Sumario:Tricalcium phosphate (TCP) is a food additive, labeled E341(iii), used in powdered food preparation, such as baby formula. In the United States, calcium phosphate nano-objects were identified in baby formula extractions. Our goal is to determine whether the TCP food additive, as is used in Europe, can be classified as a nanomaterial. The physicochemical properties of TCP were characterized. Three different samples (from a chemical company and two manufacturers) were thoroughly characterized according to the recommendations of the European Food Safety Authority. A commercial TCP food additive was identified as actually being hydroxyapatite (HA). It presents itself in the form of particles of different shapes (either needle-like, rod, or pseudo-spherical), which were demonstrated in this paper to be of a nanometric dimension: E341(iii) is thus a nanomaterial. In water, HA particles sediment rapidly as agglomerates or aggregates over a pH of 6 and are progressively dissolved in acidic media (pH < 5) until the complete dissolution at a pH of 2. Consequently, since TCP may be considered as a nanomaterial on the European market, it raises the question of its potential persistency in the gastrointestinal tract.