I just bought a cheap brand of pop tarts. One of the listed ingredients under Leavening is, sodium aluminum. I don't think Wal-Mart will take back the box, so should I just throw the whole box of 16, away. Or is the proportion of aluminum in the product so minute, that it will not make a difference to my health? Thanks.
It's actually Sodium Aluminum Phosphate. It's used as a preservative in a lot of food actually. It's not exactly good for you, but it's really no more harmful than any other preservative. So basically, it's unhealthy, but you're not gonna die from eating them. EDIT: Yes I realize that Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's disease, but this isn't Aluminum. Aluminum is an element. This is Sodium Aluminum Phosphate. A completely different substance. When an element bonds with another element (or two) often its properties completely change. I think you'd be surprised to learn that Sodium by itself, is not only horribly volatile (it will explode in water) and will kill you if you ingested it. Iodine is also poisonous in fairly moderate doses. But when the two are bonded together (sodium iodide) it becomes an essential nutrient to the body.
