Are you feeding your child Cheerios? You Won't Want to Miss This Information

June 2011-So I haven't made a post here on this blog for quite some time, I guess mostly because I just let it slip away and sort of forgot about it! However, the first six months of 2011 were quite a journey from a medical stand point with my daughter! For those of you who personally know me and keep in touch with me from time to time are pretty aware of what we have been going through with little miss sweet cheeks! It all started in Mid January with random vomiting episodes. Since she had a head injury in January (my gut was telling me it wasn't related, just coincidental to the timing of the head injury), we made an appointment to see her Pediatrician to ensure it wasn't related to the injury! After an MRI, it was ruled out that it was NOT part of the head injury. Since I had made mention before the MRI was scheduled that I really felt it was something she was eating, I brought it up again to her Pediatrician. He recommended we go through a blood test for a food panel, which also was negative on everything they tested her for. This test is scored zero to five (0-5) with a 5 being a severe allergic reaction, thankfully she was a Zero on everything! However, this still left us without knowing what had caused the random episodes. We had cut out many things in which we felt could have been a factor in the vomiting and I was keeping a food journal (again, for those of you who know me well, know that I am a data driven person, so needed this food journal to try and find the link) since we had cut out these foods such as nuts and anything processed in a facility with nuts, this also included most cold cereals which I would keep in snack containers and bring with us when running errands. Instead what I was carrying around while running errands were frozen grapes and other things that I knew were good for her, but could also survive our warm days in AZ! We also quit giving her anything cold to drink on an empty stomach so with these changes made the vomiting stop. So when the blood work (which took us two weeks to get the results) came back showing negative, I really was a little surprised for the mere fact that we had cut things out and it had stopped! However, her Pediatrician recommended a skin test with the Allergy Dr. to ensure that they weren't missing anything, so we did just that and of course a NEGATIVE result. The next step was to be referred to a GI Dr. which I really wasn't on board with because I was able to make it stop with cutting out certain foods so figured I would slowly re-introduce them to see if anything made the vomiting come back at random! I also let her Pediatrician know that I really still feel it is absolutely something she is eating, so if we can figure that out and just avoid it then it will cease and I don't have to put her through all this testing. However, over the last three weeks we had a few more episodes of the random vomiting and since I hadn't stopped writing in the food journal, the common factor was Cheerios!!!! Yes, the most common toddler snack, you see it advertised everywhere and the majority of moms with little ones will most likely have a container of them in their diaper bag/purse etc. Please understand it is actually in MANY cereals, however, I have singled Cheerios out since it is a common toddler snack item. I then did a look at the ingredients and one in particular stood out that I didn't really like TRISODIUMPHOSPHATE, so I did a little research (I know you are all so surprised, considering research is practically a hobby for me) and low and behold this is EXACTLY what has been making her randomly vomit! Trisodium Phosphate is a HEAVY DUTY CLEANING agent! Yes, you read that right. It is used to clean toilets, in dishwasher soap etc.! It is also in many dairy products, which would explain why she can't handle most dairy! So I wanted to share with all of you what else I found out in my research so I am posting it below with where I found it! We need to spread the word quickly within the parenting community to BOYCOTT cheerios and anything else that has this ingredient! Interesting enough, one thing I found disturbing is this comment on one of the websites hosting information regarding Trisodium Phosphate: “While trisodium phosphate is not toxic per se, it is severely irritating to gastric mucosa." So it is a no wonder she was vomiting as a result of eating this. Also found on the website Medline, it lists other symptoms it can cause which she has also suffered from!

For me as a parent and also as someone who loves to research it has always been important to me that I utilize the Pediatrician more of a partner in my child's health, not as someone who should have all the answers just because they have a PHD! It is my responsibility as a parent to ensure that my child/ren's needs are met and enlist others (such as a Pediatrician, herbalist or other person)as I feel necessary to assist me in this journey of parenthood, afterall, they say it takes a village, right? My children are relying me (and their father, not someone else such as their pediatrician.) to ensure they have all they need to be cared for, loved and able to grow up healthy, happy and have an ability to know how to make choices and learn from mistakes, I am so glad that I invested my time to keep the food journal and continue to research to get to the bottom of what has been going on with my little sweet cheeks!

If you would also like to read about other ingredients in your foods please go to this website: http://www.mbm.net.au/health/296-385.htm

The definition is as follows:

potassium phosphate–noun Chemistry .

any of the three orthophosphates of potassium (potassiummonophosphate (K ₂ HPO ₄ ),

potassium diphosphate (KH ₂ PO ₄), and tripotassium phosphate (K ₃ PO ₄ ) ).

They are found in MANY other foods including Dairy which she has had issues with since birth, I had to cut out dairy when I was breastfeeding!

While trisodium phosphate is not toxic per se, it is severely irritating to gastric mucosa…again I find this statement interesting, it stating it isn’t toxic, yet clearly if there is such thing as Trisodium phosphate Poisoning, then it certainly shouldn’t be in our food.

Per the definition be cautious of these other ingredients as well!

Information on Trisodium Phosphate (TSP):

From Medline (http://www.nlm.nih.gov), here is what I found

Trisodium phosphate poisoning

Trisodium phosphate is a strong chemical.(yet it is in our food) Poisoning occurs if you accidentally swallow, breathe in, or spill large amounts of this substance on your skin.

This is for information only and not for use in the treatment or management of an actual poison exposure. If you have an exposure, you should call your local emergency number (such as 911) or theNational Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.

Poisonous Ingredient

Trisodium phosphate

Where Found

• Some automatic dishwashing soaps
• Some toilet bowl cleaners
• Many industrial solvents and cleaners (hundreds to thousands of construction agents, flooring strippers, brick cleaners, cements, and many others)

Note: This list may not be all-inclusive.

Symptoms

• Airways and lungs
• Breathing difficulty (from inhalation)
• Coughing
• Throat swelling (which may also cause breathing difficulty)
• Eyes, ears, nose, and throat
• Severe pain in the throat
• Severe pain or burning in the nose, eyes, ears, lips, or tongue
• Vision loss
• Heart and blood
• Low blood pressure -- develops rapidly
• Collapse
• Severe change in blood acid level
• Skin
• Burns
• Hives
• Holes in the skin or underlying tissue
• Skin irritation
• Stomach and intestines
• Blood in the stool
• Burns of the esophagus (food pipe) and stomach
• Diarrhea
• Severe abdominal pain
• Vomiting (possibly bloody)

Home Care

Do NOT make a person throw up.

If the chemical is on the skin or in the eyes, flush with lots of water for at least 15 minutes.

If the chemical was swallowed, immediately give the person water or milk. Do NOT give water or milk if the patient is vomiting or has a decreased level of alertness.

If the person breathed in the poison, immediately move him or her to fresh air.

Before Calling Emergency

Determine the following information:

• The patient's age, weight, and condition
• The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
• The time it was swallowed
• The amount swallowed

Poison Control

The National Poison Control Center (1-800-222-1222) can be called from anywhere in the United States. This national hotline number will let you talk to experts in poisoning. They will give you further instructions.

This is a free and confidential service. All local poison control centers in the United States use this national number. You should call if you have any questions about poisoning or poison prevention. It does NOT need to be an emergency. You can call for any reason, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Take the container with you to the hospital, if possible.

Here is what I found on Wikipedia

Uses

Cleaning

The major use for trisodium phosphate is in cleaning agents. The pH of a 1% solution is 12, and the solution is sufficiently alkaline to saponify grease and oils. In combination with surfactants, TSP is an excellent agent for cleaning everything from laundry to concrete driveways. This versatility and low manufacturing price, made TSP the preferred basis for a plethora of cleaning products sold in the mid-20th century. TSP is still sold, and used, as a cleaning agent, but during the late 1960s in the United States, government regulators in seventeen states determined that overuse led to a series of ecological problems.

By the end of the 20th century, many products that formerly contained TSP are now manufactured with TSP Substitutes, which consist mainly of sodium carbonate along with various admixtures of nonionic surfactants and a limited percentage of sodium phosphates.

TSP is commonly used after cleaning with mineral spirits in order to remove hydrocarbon residues. TSP may be used with household chlorine bleach in the same solution without hazardous reactions. This mixture is particularly good for removing mildew.

Although it is still the active ingredient in some toilet bowl cleaning tablets, TSP is generally not good for cleaning bathrooms, because it can corrode metal and can damage grout. I find this last paragraph quite disturbing for the mere fact, that we found it to harsh for our pumps in our households, yet we use it as an additive in food as a “binding” agent or “flavor”.

Flux

In the United States, trisodium phosphate is an approved flux for use in hard soldering joints in medical grade copper plumbing. The flux is applied as a concentrated water solution and dissolves copper oxides at the temperature used in copper brazing. Residues are fully water soluble and can be rinsed out of plumbing before it is put in service.

TSP is used as an ingredient in fluxes designed to deoxygenate nonferrous metals for casting.

TSP can be used in ceramic production to lower the flow point of glazes.

Painting enhancement

TSP is still in common use for the cleaning, degreasing and deglossing of walls prior to painting. TSP breaks the gloss of oil based paints and opens the pores of latex based paint providing a surface better suited for the adhesion of the subsequent layer of paint. (“Yet again, we are using in foods?”)

Trisodium phosphate (TSP, E339) is a cleaning agent, food additive, stain remover and degreaser. It is a white, granular or crystalline solid, highly soluble in water producing an alkaline solution. The item of commerce is often partially hydrated and may range from anhydrous trisodium phosphate, Na₃PO₄, to the dodecahydrate,Na₃PO₄·12H₂O. Most often found in white powder form, it can also be called trisodium orthophosphate or just plain sodium phosphate. Trisodium phosphate was at one time extensively used in formulations for a wide variety of consumer grade soaps and detergents, but supposed ecological problems have largely ended that practice, at least in the western world. (Really, but we are going to put it in our food?) Though substitutes are not as effective, the raw chemical can be bought in bulk for addition to underpowered detergents.