Sodium Phytate
In plain terms
A plant-derived chelator (from rice bran and other seeds) used in tiny amounts to keep formulas stable by mopping up trace metals. It is a gentle, food-grade stand-in for synthetic chelators like EDTA.
What the evidence shows
Sodium phytate is the salt of phytic acid, a molecule that plants use to store phosphorus in seeds and bran. In a cosmetic it works as a chelator: at well under a percent it binds stray iron and copper that would otherwise speed up spoilage and rancidity, which helps a formula stay stable and its preservatives work. On safety it is about as quiet as an ingredient gets. The US cosmetic-ingredient panel reviewed the phytates and judged them safe as used, it is one of the least irritating ingredients in common use with a comedogenic rating of zero, and phytic acid is a normal part of a plant-based diet that the US food agency treats as generally recognized as safe. It carries no hormone, cancer, or environmental flag, and it is often the chelator chosen for sensitive-skin formulas in place of EDTA. The one formulation note is that concentrated solutions are alkaline, so it is buffered into a formula rather than used neat, which is a maker's concern rather than a user's.
On the label
Listed as sodium phytate or phytic acid, low on the ingredient list since it is used in tiny amounts. It is a gentler, plant-based alternative to EDTA, so a no-synthetic-chelators or sensitive-skin claim that features it is doing what it says.