Yes, phosphates are the middle number in fertilizer analysis. The Bloom Boost formulas have a much higher middle number. Phosphates boost flower and fruit production as well as root growth.
The phosphates were removed from detergents because they were essentially killing the Great Lakes. Phosphates being a fertilizer cause the algae and grassy plants in the lakes to overgrow, depleting the oxygen and killing the fish.
So...I went in and looked at the recent dishwasher and dishwasher detergent ratings. I noticed that in the dishwasher ratings there were no KitchenAid models listed at all. I also noticed that in the detergent ratings, there were no Cascade powder ratings at all either...just pacs.
If going by news media and Internet postings are some of the main offenders in terms of poor cleaning and redeposit/white film post phosphates. Being as that may CR did state in recent piece about DW detergents they hadn't got around to putting *all* products through the battery of new tests, so maybe Cascade powders will turn up later.
Quite honesty one often finds CR testing results as reported in the magazine lacking. Far less details are given in the print version and one must go online (which requires another fee) to see the nitty-gritty details.