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Talc(E553b)
Level 4 — Significant concernsIn Winter's Dictionary
Talc is a anti caking — Anticaking additive in vitamin supplements, gum base, rice, spices
Also: French Chalk, Magnesium Silicate
What it does
Anticaking additive in vitamin supplements, gum base, rice, spices
Where you'll see it
vitamin supplements, chewing gum base, rice, herbs, spices, seasonings
What the research says
Similar in chemical composition to asbestos; question about cancer-causing upon ingestion; suspected of high stomach cancer incidence in Japan
Regulatory status
- US FDA: GRAS
- EU: approved
- Notes: ASP; chemically similar to asbestos
Sources
- A Consumer's Dictionary of Food Additives (Winter): similar in chemical composition to asbestos, a known lung irritant and cancer-causing ingredient in its powdered form