FISH

What’s on Your Fish?

Sodium Tripolyphosphate: Another Chemical to Avoid
Fact Sheet • June 2010

Y ou want to know what’s in your food, and this is especially true when it comes
to fresh seafood. Unfortunately, the fish fillet you see in the store may have
been treated with a chemical called sodium tripolyphosphate. This much-debated
additive can make expired products appear firmer and glossier, and could dupe you
into buying old or spoiled fish that could make you sick. Worse yet, exposure to the
chemical itself could also be harmful for your health.

Health Risks
Sodium tripolyphosphate, or STPP, is a suspected neuro-
toxin according to the National Institute for Occupational
Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) Registry of Toxic Effects of
Chemical Substances.1 Food-grade STPP may cause acute
skin irritation, and prolonged contact with skin should be
avoided.2 STPP is listed on the U.S. Environmental Protec-
tion Agency’s Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenti-
cide Act as a registered pesticide,3 and it is also registered
as an air contaminant under California’s Occupational and
Safety Health Act.4 Although the FDA considers STPP to be
“generally recognized as safe” as a food preservative,5 its
household and industrial uses — such as in cleaning and
sanitizing agents — suggest that exposure can be danger-
ous in the short-term, particularly if it is inhaled.

Based on these warnings from federal agencies, it is likely

that consumers may be adversely affected when preparing
and cooking STPP-soaked seafood. Exposure may occur
on the skin during handling and preparation, from vapors
during the cooking process (especially if steam is gener-
ated), or even from inhaling the vapors while you eat.

If It’s Bad for Our Health, Why Is It Being

Used?
In seafood manufacturing, sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP)
is often used to prevent excessive “thaw drip” — the liquid
that is released from frozen fillets of fish as they thaw —
and to improve the external appearance of a product by
adding a glossy sheen.6 STPP treatment can also be used
as a binding agent to hold flaky fish products together,
such as whiting fillets or blocks of minced fish.7 This
treatment is done for cosmetic purposes, and proponents
claim that treatment does not affect the quality of the fish.
However, STPP treatment cannot improve the underly-
ing quality of the fish and does not help to preserve the
fish. Because STPP changes how the product looks, it can
make spoiled fish appear fresh, increasing the risk of ill-
ness for consumers.
There is also concern that the use of STPP can result in
consumer fraud, because it increases the weight of the
product due to water retention and heavier fish can be
sold for more money. Use of STPP specifically to add
weight is not allowed by international standards, but the
intentional or accidental overuse of STPP will lead to a
product that has increased water weight, causing consum-
ers to pay a higher price for fish sold per pound.
Application of STPP to seafood takes between seconds
and minutes, depending on the salinity of the product, 8
and can affect the flavor and quality of the seafood, typi-
cally resulting in a soapy or alkaline taste.9 This tends to
occur with lighter or more delicately flavored seafood, like
scallops.
Regulation of Sodium Tripolyphosphate
Many countries have taken a precautionary approach to
the use of STPP in food products, but the United States
does not have a limit of how much STPP can be present in
seafood products. The European Union, Canada and Brazil
all have limits on the total level of STPP allowed in seafood
products, generally between 0.1% and 0.5% of the final
product.10 The U.S. regulations, by comparison, list STPP
as “Generally Recognized as Safe” when used in accor-
dance with “Good Manufacturing Practice,” but this can
leave consumers vulnerable.11
How Can I Avoid This Additive in my
Seafood?
Check labels: Unfortunately, labeling isn’t required for
fresh seafood treated with STPP, although some packaged
seafood products may list it as an ingredient.
Choose scallops and shrimp labeled as “dry”: Scallops
and shrimp are two of the most commonly found sea-
food items treated with STPP, and those labeled as “dry”
have not been treated with STTP. Avoid seafood marked
as “wet,” which means that they have been soaked in an
STPP solution.
Ask at markets or restaurants: Whenever you’re purchas-
ing seafood, whether at the market or in a restaurant, ask
if the seafood has been treated with sodium tripolyphos-
phate, or STPP.
Endnotes
1 Scorecard: The Pollution Information Site. “Sodium Tripolyphos-
phate (CAS Number: 7758-29-4).” Available at http://scorecard.
org/chemical-profiles/summary.tcl?edf_substance_id=7758-29-
4#hazards , accessed May 25, 2010.
2 Innophos. “[Material Safety Data Sheet] Sodium Tripolyphosphate,
Food Grade.” March 2007; and National Institute for Occupational
Health and Safety. “International Chemical Safety Cards: Sodium
Tripolyphosphate.” August 2002. Available at http://www.cdc.gov/
niosh/ipcsneng/neng1469.html
3 Scorecard: The Pollution Information Site. “Registered Pesticides
(Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act).” Page undated.
Available at http://scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_
list_name=pest , accessed May 25, 2010.
4 Scorecard: The Pollution Information Site. “Air Contaminants
(California Occupational and Safety Health Act).” Page undated.
Available at http://scorecard.org/chemical-groups/one-list.tcl?short_
list_name=caac , accessed May 25, 2010.
5 Food and Drug Administration. “Guidance for Industry: 1991 Letter
to Seafood Manufacturers,” February 2009. http://www.fda.gov/
Food/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/GuidanceDocu-
ments/Seafood/ucm123018.htm
6 Aitken, A (2001). “Polyphosphates in Fish Processing.” Food and
Agricultural Organization (in partnership with the Support Unit for
International Fisheries and Aquatic Research, SIFAR.) FAO Corporate
Document Repository. http://www.fao.org/wairdocs/tan/x5909e/
x5909e01.htm
7 Ibid.
8 Lampila, L.E. and J.P. Godber (2001). “Food Phosphates.” In Alfred
Larry Branen , P Michael Davidson, Seppo Salminen, et al. (Eds.),
Food Science. London: M. Dekker, 867.
9 Ibid., 868.
10 Goncalves, Alex Augusto and Jose Luis Duarte Ribeiro (2008). “Do
Phosphates Improve the Seafood Quality? Reality and Legislation.”
Pan-American Journal of Aquatic Sciences (2008) 3(3): 242-244.
11 Ibid., 242.
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Copyright © June 2010 Food & Water Watch