Trisodium Phosphate

How many people eat Cinnamon Toast Crunch every day?

How many eat Lucky Charms?

Maybe this is a better question: How many children eat both of these products every day? And how many of them adhere to the nutrition facts’ recommended serving size of just one cup?

These and other General Mills products contain trisodium phosphate, a problematic agent that could negatively impact children’s physiological growth.

The contents of my letter are below. I will update the blog if & when I receive a response from General Mills.

People, it’s delicious, but please stay away. And feel free to contact General Mills with your own voice; their corporate address is below.

Leon

***
August 14, 2020

General Mills
P.O. Box #9452
Minneapolis, MN 55440

Re: Trisodium Phosphate

Dear Gen. Mills:

I was recently moved to purchase my first box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch of 2020. I have enjoyed your product for over twenty years, but my purchasing habit has fallen off more recently due to a growing distaste for sugar. Enjoying my first bowl, I casually read the ingredients list and paused on the mention of trisodium phosphate (TSP.) After cursory research, I learned TSP has a vast range of applications in consumer products, from Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Lucky Charms, to cleaning agents and detergents. It is also used as flux for soldering joints in copper plumbing applications. I am appalled to learn that this ingredient is present, in any concentration, in your breakfast cereal.

TSP as an additive has drawbacks that far outweigh its benefits. It upsets the balance of calcium in the body and can cause stomach rupture. Adults who do not regularly purchase your product may have bodies that can withstand this chemical, but young children, who make up the vast majority of your customers, are more at risk for developing osteoporosis and stomach ulcers.

I am moved to recall a TED Talk given by Mark Bittman, food journalist and author, in which he held refined granulated sugar in his hands to illustrate the amount of added sugars found in consumer drinks. Both hands cupped, overflowing with sugar: It was an image I will never forget. A teaspoon is four grams volume; Cinnamon Toast Crunch contains 12 grams of sugar per one cup serving. Three teaspoons in one’s palm may seem like a lot, until you remember no child consumes only one cup of this product at a time.

I am not writing to request less sugar in your cereal; that ingredient has been a matter of contention for decades. Rather, I am writing you with the emerging concern over TSP. This is not a business decision inasmuch as profit and loss is concerned. This is a matter of ethics. This is a matter of consumer protection. You have an enormous responsibility to millions of children worldwide who are exposed to these products through word of mouth or advertising campaigns. It must be possible to manufacture this product without TSP; therefore, I hereby request the use of TSP in your product stops completely and immediately.

Sincerely,

Leon Ferri