Pub. 4 2014 Issue 3

12 AT THE CENTER OF UTAH INDUSTRY Understanding Phosphates Phosphates are natural salt compounds that contain phosphorus and other minerals. Phosphorus, of course, is one of the elements on the Periodic Table. Phosphates in Beverages Most people don’t realize that many beverages have phosphates in them. The phosphates make drinks taste better and it also makes the drinks more effective in your body. What kinds of beverages use phosphates? The following list contains some common, but probably surprising, examples: • The most obvious category, and the one you are probably most likely to be familiar with, is the use of phosphates in isotonic drinks and sports beverages that replenish electrolytes. Athletes use sports drinks after strenuous exercise. These phosphates have cations such as sodium and potassium. For those who have not taken chemistry classes for a while, a cation is a positively charged ion that has more protons than electrons. To be more specific, sports drinks generally contain monopotassium phosphate and monosodium phospate. These two ingredients provide sodium and potassium electrolytes, and they also provide pH buffering. • Soft drinks have phosphoric acid in them. For colas, the percentage of phosphoric acid is about 0.05 percent. For root beer, it is 0.1 percent. Soft-drink manufacturers like phosphoric acid because it enhances the flavor, lowers the pH, and keeps the carbonation stable. • Meal replacement drinks are fortified so they can provide the nutrition of an entire meal. The phosphates add magnesium and phosphorus, and they protect the drink’s vitamin C so it doesn’t oxidize if there are metal ions present. • Beverages that use soy have phosphate in them. The phosphate keeps the soy protein dispersed and adds calcium minerals, important because soy milk only has about a third as much calcium as milk from a cow. • Whey drinks have protein, and the protein has to be protected, stabilized, and dispersed within the drink. Manufacturers use phosphates to do just that. • Beverages such as fruit drinks and tea also can be fortified with phosphate. For example, tricalcium phosphate can be added to juice for the calcium. Other phosphate salts in juice provide potassium or keep the color stable. About Sports Drinks Electrolyte drinks are used as part of oral rehydration therapy. If an athlete is participating in unusually strenuous activity over a long period of time, such as a marathon or triathlon, then after three or more hours, the athlete can become quite dehydrated. The body is a marvelously complex thing and can sometimes compensate for the problem of dehydration, but a sports drink is a quick and simple way to fix the problem. Athletes are not the only ones who sometimes could use a good sports A Surprising Role for Phosphates