INS 341 (iii) is tricalcium phosphate (TCP), the most basic of the calcium phosphates grouped under INS 341, and numbered E341(iii) in Europe. It is a white, tasteless powder that hardly dissolves in water, made commercially by reacting phosphoric acid with lime.
Codex lists it as an acidity regulator, anticaking agent, emulsifier, emulsifying salt, firming agent, flour treatment agent, humectant, raising agent, stabilizer and thickener. In snacks the anticaking role matters most: its fine particles coat seasoning grains and stop them from clumping in humid air, so the flavour powder stays dry and spreads evenly. It is often used together with silicon dioxide (INS 551).
You will find it in seasoned snacks such as the Snack Jack green pea snacks, whose label names it in full, the honey-butter coating of Tom’s Farm Honey Butter Almond and Pringles Larb Flavour, as well as in Denma filled cookies.
