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...A blog about living a life migraine-free

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Shrimp and Sodium Tripolyphosphate

4/17/2013

22 Comments

 
Q:  Is it wrong to eat about 30 shrimp in a 24 hour period?
A:  Depends on the shrimp.

I did it...and I paid for it with a nice little headache.  Don't feel too sorry for me.  I went to bed with ice wrapped around my head and woke up feeling great.  Since I have eliminated almost every possible trigger with my "Migraine Plan", it is rare that I have these annoyingly painful experiences.  You might be wondering why anyone would eat 30 shrimp in 24 hour period.  So, let me explain:  I prepared a shrimp dish for dinner Wednesday evening and not wanting to be wasteful, I consumed it for lunch and dinner on Thursday.  Perplexed about the cause of my headache, because I truly felt like had my plan down to a science, I put on my detective hat. It doesn't take a great detective to discover 30 shrimp as an outlier in my routine.  It is unusual for me to eat this many shrimp.  I may split a shrimp appetizer with Bryan on occasion yielding a 3 shrimp intake, but I would guestimate my usual maximum is probably closer to 8 shrimp in a 24 hour period.

With my detective hat on, I started researching shrimp.  At first I thought my problem with eating 30 shrimp might be related to sulfites.  After further research, I learned about a little something called sodium tripolyphosphate.  Unfortunately, the bag of frozen shrimp I bought on Wednesday included Raw Shrimp, Salt, and Sodium Tripolyphosphate.  Please excuse the  quality of the  ingredients photo containing sodium tripolyphosphate.  This food detective is suspicious this little ingredient might be where her headache trigger lies.
Let me tell you what I learned about sodium tripolyphosphate:

1.  It is produced on a large scale and used in many domestic and industrial products including detergents.
2.  There are problems with eutrophication due to it's widespread use.
3.  It is also known as STPP and is a preservative for seafood and meats.
4.  It is used as an emulsifier and to retain moisture.
5.  It  substantially increases the sale weight of seafood (they can charge me more for less shrimp).
6.  Other uses include: leather tanning, flame retardants, rubber manufacturing, and antifreeze (visualize me consuming 30 antifreeze pellets).
7.  The FDA lists this product as "generally regarded as safe" (generally, they don't count on people eating 30 sodium tripolyphosphate laden shrimp in a 24 hour period).

My research included a visit to a local Wholefoods and visiting with their fishmonger, Brian.  He assured me I could be safe eating 30 of their shrimp in a 24 hour period.  Whole Food's standards prohibit use of antibiotics, added growth hormones, added preservatives like sulfites and phosphates, genetically-modified seafood, and animal by-products in feed. They contract with fish farms that adhere to their standards.  I ventured into their frozen foods to check out the ingredients on their frozen shrimp.
Picture
I just never thought I would have to check the ingredients label of shrimp.  I assumed it was just frozen shrimp.  I check my meat labels for nitrites and nitrates, hormones, and antibiotics and now I will be making sure my shrimp is just shrimp and nothing else.  Another headache lesson learned--avoid sodium tripolyphosphate.
22 Comments
Leslie
12/8/2013 07:29:48 pm

Thank you for this post! Now I know why I've been up all night!!!

Reply
ron
12/9/2017 12:46:56 pm

This has happened to me also. Thank you for the information.

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Lela
4/18/2014 01:51:32 am

Thank you for this post. I suspected that my headache might be from me eating too much shrimp. 3 helpings within 48 hours and I love shrimp!!

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Lia
2/7/2015 05:07:01 am

Thanks for the post, its very helpful. ALTHOUGH, I bought shrimps in Wholefoods today, frozen, exactly the same package as you posted, and i got a headache soon after I ate them. The package does not say whether it contains STPP, it just says sodium. So Im assuming it does contain STPP, so Im just gng to give up shrimps.

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William
3/13/2015 10:43:55 am

I am a heart patient and I need to eat fish for the health benefit. I am not allowed to have sodium, but when they add sodium tripolyphosphate the sodium level on the label goes from zero to 500 mg per serving. I don't eat that much sodium all day. Plus, I love seafood and can't have it. Before my heart problem I ate seafood several times a week. Now I have to eat fish in a pill. Obama is not the problem, so don't blame him. The problem is FDA regulators that just don't care enough to fix this. It's starch in tuna fish all over again. As long as the starch comes from a vegetable they can use it to increase press weight. So there is less fish in the can. They never stopped that either.

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Mike
5/23/2016 07:36:53 am

You can still have grilled fish weekly. There's nothing wrong with that for cardiac patients.

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inAgony
4/3/2015 02:03:34 pm

*facpalm* i was such a greedy gus..... 2 LB of shrimp with STPP in it... never again... never. now i know to avoid shrimp with stpp in it.

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Barbara Merkwa
7/16/2021 02:51:39 pm

Thank you so much! No wonder I have been having so much trouble with my Migraines. I have a really difficult time eating secondary to severe GI issues and for about 2 weeks, I have been able to eat cocktail shrimp without severe GI upset but I had had severe Migraines. Now I know why. Sometimes it feels like you can't win for losing.

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Mike
5/23/2016 07:34:54 am

I came across this while searching for why I developed a headache after eating about 400g (small packet) of peeled/cooked shrimp. Previously I didn't encounter any issues, this time I'm unsure why except I didn't rinse them as thoroughly which might explain the sodium phosphate (label) stuck to them. Next time I'll take your suggestion and buy the whole foods Brandt.

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Patricia Sherwood
9/12/2016 02:15:45 am

Up in the night with a miserable headache after cooking and eating shrimp with sodium tripolyphosphate. I had looked at the label and wondered. What is that sodium tripolyphosphate? Why is this chemical in an expensive bag of frozen raw shrimp? And how might it hurt us? Thanks for the information. We learned the hard way.

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Mike
9/12/2016 02:24:19 pm

Now I just buy the Argentina RAW pink shrimp. It's packed in ice and that's it. Been eating that and no more headaches. Costs a couple $ more than the farmed shrimp but it's worth it for no more migraines.

Reply
Eleni
12/2/2016 05:34:29 pm

Where do you find it in a "clean" form?
Unfortunately, just 2 hours ago I looked at the Argentina RAW pink shrimp at Safeway, both breaded and plain. I thought RAW was not supposed to have additives. Wrong! They BOTH had sodium tripolyphosphate, please write to Safeway and other companies and ask them to carry their products without such additives--or at least carry ONE product that people who care about their health want to buy.

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Mike
12/2/2016 05:41:09 pm

I purchase mine here in Toronto from loblaws and the only ingredients are salt and shrimp. And RAW shouldn't be breaded they are just in the shell so you're not looking at the right type.

Mike
12/2/2016 05:44:48 pm

The brand you can google is "Canuck raw Argentina shrimp" you'll see the packing says chemical free.

Mike
12/2/2016 05:47:58 pm

Here's a link and you can google they're available for shipping from many sites but make sure it's the right brand.

http://canuckseafood.com/argentinian-shrimp.php

r link
9/14/2017 06:26:28 am

asqssasas

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Mere Stasio
12/8/2017 07:17:23 pm

Does cooked shrimo have nitrates??

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Melissa Hester
1/13/2019 06:37:44 am

I had shrimp 2 days in a row also. Dinner at home and I ate about 8 fried shrimp. The next day at a funeral we had shrimp again... i ate approx. 4 shrimp, 4 scallops and fish. I was up all night with a massive headache on the top of my head that was so severe that turning side to side hurt even worse, not sure if its a migrane but i thought my head was going to EXPLODE literally to the point of feeling nauseas. I was shocked reading everyone's comments. Checking my frozen breaded shrimp labels from sams club i discovered...sodium tripolyphosphates, 640mg of sodium per 4 pieces, and tapioca starch, wheat flower, corn flour, xanthum gum and guar gum. Ill be paying better attention to labels from now on and btw...this is a product of CHINA. 🙄🤔

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Corey
7/12/2020 04:08:05 am

I thought i must have been crazy until finding this thread. Two weeks in a row I had a dozsn or so large shrimp cocktail, and both last Saturday and now again yesterday was left almost immobilized. I had Cluster headaches about 15 years ago which were unbearable but never a straight up Migraine. Mike ill look for that brand as i can eat a few as others described but the Shrimp Marathons are over for me!!! Thanks All!

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Jennifer
9/27/2020 08:19:13 pm

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it's pretty likely NOT the STPP that is the migraine trigger. I have found that shrimp and other seafood all are migraine triggers for me. And I only buy food items without any additives like STPP or nitrates/nitrites. I ALWAYS read labels and the ingredients lists, and seafood still gives me migraines. It doesn't seem to matter if it is fresh, canned, frozen, whatever.

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Cheryl
5/30/2021 05:00:22 am

Sadly, I have to agree with Jennifer. I splurged for wild caught shrimp which said it had no stpp, and I still had a migraine when I woke up this morning. I ate the shrimp with horseradish and mayo, nothing else.
I can eat other seafood just fine.

Reply
Cheryl Keeney
5/30/2021 03:18:47 pm

After posting the above comment, I realized there was some sort of sticky residue on my fingers after eating the shrimp...so I am thinking they just are not honestly labeling the shrimp, and there is in fact the STPP on the shrimp and that's why I did get a migraine. :(

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