E341 — Calcium phosphates
E341 (Calcium phosphates), a emulsifier, is rated "avoid": worth avoiding. The same mineral your bones are made of, used as a calcium source and anti-caking agent in flour, cereals, and supplements. It is still an added phosphate, and EFSA found total phosphate intake already exceeds the safe daily limit for many children.
What is Calcium phosphates?
Calcium salts of phosphoric acid. The same mineral your bones and teeth are largely made of. Used in flour, baking powder, cereals, infant formula, and calcium supplements.
What does it do to the body?
It supplies calcium and phosphate your body uses normally, and on its own it is the mildest of the added phosphates. The problem is cumulative: added phosphates absorb far more efficiently than natural ones, and EFSA judges them as one group because what matters is the total across your day. Heavy intake of added phosphates is linked to kidney strain and vascular calcification, so people with reduced kidney function should count this toward their limit like any other phosphate.
What regulators say
Covered by EFSA's 2019 group acceptable daily intake of 40 mg of phosphorus per kg of body weight per day. EFSA found that intake exceeds this limit for infants, toddlers and children at average consumption, and that the limit does not protect people with moderate to severe reduced kidney function. It stays permitted in the EU, and the FDA treats it as GRAS.
Risk rating: Avoid
Known or suspected to cause harm: a substance EFSA or another regulator has flagged, or one restricted in some jurisdictions. Best kept out of a regular diet.
Source: EFSA — re-evaluation of phosphoric acid and phosphates, E 338–341, E 343, E 450–452 (2019) ↗