Pass the TSP Please

Riddle me this:

What is the first snack food you feed you baby?

What food do you put into a tupperware container and have in your diaper bag at all times in case your baby gets fussy at the store?

What food to babies learn fine motor skills with?

If you answered Cheerios, you're right.

They dissolve in the mouth great, and are small enough so baby doesn't choke. It's cute to watch them learn how to use their fingers by picking them up, "o" by "o" and finding the correct place to put them. 

They're great! But I found out something terribly disturbing in the past few days. 

They have TSP (tri sodium phosphate) in them. You know, the cleaning agent you put on your walls to prepare them for painting?? It's the 6th ingredient. Right after salt.

I looked up other uses of TSP. It's a stain remover, degreaser, but can also be used as a laxative. Well, no duhh. What else do you think will happen to your digestive system if you ingest the chemical under my sink that says "do not get on skin or clothing. Keep out of children's reach".

Needless to say, we have been re-thinking the decision to give them to Nathan. I don't think we're being unreasonable or over paranoid about it. Yes, billions of kids have eaten the stuff (like, every baby I know) and are totally fine. Yes, there is probably only a teeny weeny amount in it, (and a Cheerios rep says that gastric juices break up the ions so no actual TSP remains). And no, Cheerios didn't get to be one of the best cereal sellers of all time by poisoning its consumers, but still. Why not try an alternative?

So at the grocery store today, we checked all the brands of "O" cereal, and they all contain TSP. We even looked at Heinz's "Nutrios", an "o" cereal especially for babies, and even that has TSP. The only one we found without it was an organic kind called "On the go O's". So we'll give that a try. 

I doubt this phase will last long. It's just gross right now. It's like finding a cockroach at your favourite restaurant. You get grossed out and avoid it for awhile, but then you realize how good it was and go back when your appetite for the place has returned. 

But until then, our box of TSP-ios will be going stale in our cupboard.