Sodium acid pyrophosphate

What this is

SAPP is the disodium form of a diphosphate, identified internationally as INS/E 450(i). In the United States, FDA lists it as GRAS when used according to good manufacturing practice, and Codex/JECFA lists it among phosphate additives with a group tolerable intake for phosphorus from all sources. In the EU, diphosphates are authorized only in specified food categories and under maximum levels or other use conditions. The practical toxicology question is cumulative phosphorus exposure rather than a substance-specific cancer or genotoxicity signal. EFSA's 2019 review of phosphates set a group ADI of 40 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day and noted that total phosphate intake can exceed that level for some children and high consumers; EFSA also identified people with moderate to severe kidney-function reduction as a vulnerable group. JECFA's group MTDI is higher, 70 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day, reflecting a different risk-management framework. For occasional use in baking powders or processed foods, concern is limited, but frequent intake of phosphate-additive processed foods can add readily absorbable phosphorus and some sodium.

Safety Review

The key endpoints PRūF reviews in safety assessments. This is not a prediction of harm.

At ordinary regulated food uses, SAPP is best understood as a phosphate-exposure issue rather than a poison-like additive. EFSA re-evaluated phosphates (E 338-341, E 343, E 450-452), set a group ADI of 40 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day, and reported that total dietary exposure may exceed that level for some infants, toddlers, children, and high-consuming adolescents. JECFA uses a broader group MTDI of 70 mg phosphorus/kg body weight/day from all sources, and FDA's older SCOGS review did not identify a hazard at then-current or reasonably expected food-use levels. The concern is exposure-based and subgroup-specific: most relevant to high processed-food intake and people with reduced kidney function, not evidence of proven harm from occasional use.

No safety review endpoints are listed for this ingredient yet.