Aluminium content of some foods and food products in the USA, with aluminium food additives

The primary objective was to determine the aluminium (A1) content of selected foods and food products in the USA which contain A1 as an approved food additive. Intake of A1 from the labeled serving size of each food product was calculated. The samples were acid or base digested and analysed for A1 using electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. Quality control (QC) samples, with matrices matching the samples, were generated and used to verify the A1 determinations. Food product A1 content ranged from <1-27,000mg kg^-1. Cheese in a serving of frozen pizzas had up to 14mg of A1, from basic sodium aluminium phosphate; whereas the same amount of cheese in a ready-to-eat restaurant pizza provided 0.03-0.09mg. Many single serving packets of non-dairy creamer had ∼50-600 mg A1 kg^-1 as sodium aluminosilicate, providing up to 1.5 mg A1 per serving. Many single serving packets of salt also had sodium aluminosilicate as an additive, but the A1 content was less than in single-serving non-dairy creamer packets. Acidic sodium aluminium phosphate was present in many food products, pancakes and waffles. Baking powder, some pancake/waffle mixes and frozen products, and ready-to-eat pancakes provided the most A1 of the foods tested; up to 180 mg/serving. Many products provide a significant amount of A1 compared to the typical intake of 3-12 mg/day reported from dietary A1 studies conducted in many countries.