Recently, the Tennessee Poison Center has received numerous calls from the public about why their popular brand of cereal (e.g. Cinnamon Toast Crunch) contains a poisonous chemical called trisodium phosphate. Callers had read on the internet or heard by word of mouth that trisodium phosphate is a highly toxic industrial strength cleaner, and they were worried about their children eating it.
Food-grade trisodium phosphate is often used as a leavening agent for baked goods, an emulsifier for processed cheese, a flavorant for certain beverages, and to control the pH of processed foods.