Which foods contain titanium dioxide? What you should know after the Skittles lawsuit
In a lawsuit filed last week, a consumer alleged that Skittles were “unfit for human consumption” because the rainbow candy contained a “known toxin” — an artificial coloring agent called titanium dioxide.
Mars, the maker of Skittles, told multiple media outlets that the company could not comment on pending litigation, but “the use of titanium dioxide is in compliance with FDA regulations.”
Titanium dioxide is used in a wide range of food and consumer goods – from candy to sunscreen and house paint. The US Food and Drug Administration maintains that the regulated use of titanium dioxide, particularly as a color additive in food, is safe under some restrictions.
However, some experts and food regulators in other countries disagree ̵[ads1]1; and point to potential serious health consequences and growing concern about the additive. From 7 August, for example, the use of titanium dioxide in food will be prohibited in the EU.
Here’s what you need to know about titanium dioxide:
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What is titanium dioxide? Why is it used in foods?
Titanium dioxide, or TiO2, sometimes referred to as E171, is an inorganic solid used in a wide range of consumer products, including cosmetics, paints, plastics and food, according to the American Chemistry Council.
In food, titanium dioxide is often used as an artificial color additive. Tasha Stoiber, a senior researcher at the consumer health nonprofit Environmental Working Group, says titanium dioxide can generally be thought of as a “paint primer” — it often goes on a hard-shell candy like Skittles before the color is added to give it a “uniform shine.”
Titanium dioxide “can also be found in dairy products to make them whiter and brighter … like frosting or cottage cheese,” Stoiber told USA TODAY, adding that the additive is used in other products — such as food or beverage mixes — as an anti- cake batter.
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Titanium dioxide is used in a huge variety of food products, which can feel jarring when you look at some other uses.
“It’s kind of ironic, maybe ironic is the wrong word, that the ingredient in paint that makes your kitchen shine also makes your hostess cupcakes shine,” added Environmental Working Group senior vice president of government affairs Scott Faber.
Is titanium dioxide dangerous? Has it been linked to any health problems?
While the FDA maintains that the regulated use of titanium dioxide is safe, the European Food Safety Authority and some other experts warn of potential serious health risks.
Most notably, a safety assessment by the European Food Safety Authority published in May 2021 pointed to genotoxicity concerns, as suggested by previous research. Genotoxicity is the ability of chemicals to damage genetic information such as DNA, which can lead to cancer.
“After oral intake, the absorption of titanium dioxide particles is low, but they can accumulate in the body,” Maged Younes, head of the European Food Safety Authority’s expert panel on food additives and flavorings, said in a May 2021 statement.
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The agency did not identify a safe amount of titanium dioxide that could be consumed.
Matthew Wright, head of the agency’s titanium dioxide working group, noted that “the evidence for general toxic effects was not conclusive” but that the panel could not completely rule out genotoxicity. There were also some applicable data limitations, and the review “could not establish a safe level for daily intake of the food additive,” he said.
What other candies and foods contain titanium dioxide?
It’s difficult to determine the total amount of foods that have titanium dioxide because federal regulations don’t require all manufacturers to list its use on ingredient labels, but the list of foods that contain the substance certainly doesn’t end with Skittles.
Of the products that include the additive on their labels, Thea Bourianne, senior manager at data consultant Label Insights, told Food Navigator USA in May 2021 that more than 11,000 products in the company’s database of US food and beverage products listed titanium dioxide as an ingredient. Non-chocolate candies led these numbers at 32%. Cupcakes and snacks accounted for 14%, followed by cookies at 8%, coated pretzels and trail mix at 7%, baking decorations at 6%, gum and mints at 4% and ice cream at 2%.
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In addition to Skittles, other candies that contain titanium dioxide include Nice! mints, trolli sour gums and ring pops, according to the Environmental Working Group.
Other food products that contain titanium dioxide are Lucerne cottage cheese, Beyond Meat’s chicken plant-based tenders, Great Value ice cream and Chips Ahoy! information cookies.
What is the FDA limit for titanium dioxide?
The FDA’s Code of Federal Regulations allows the legal, regulated use of titanium dioxide in foods, subject to some restrictions.
“The FDA continues to allow the safe use of titanium dioxide as a color additive in foods generally according to the specifications and conditions, including that the amount of titanium dioxide does not exceed 1% by weight of the food,” the FDA said in a statement to USA TODAY.
The FDA first approved the use of titanium dioxide in food in 1966, after its removal in 1960 (along with the removal of other color additives) from the agency’s original “Generally Recognized as Safe” list. In 1977, titanium dioxide joined the list of color additives exempt from certification, meaning that “titanium dioxide” does not have to be listed on the packaging of every product in which it is used, Faber noted.
“There are a lot of uses for titanium dioxide that we don’t know about because they were exempted from being on the package in 1977,” said Faber, who added that “nothing much has changed” since then — other than the FDA approving some other uses of the color additive, for example the expansion of the use of mica-based mother-of-pearl pigments (made from titanium dioxide) as color additives in spirits in recent years.
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Faber argued that there hasn’t been enough change in these federal regulations in the decades since the FDA’s approval of titanium dioxide — especially as others increasingly point to potential health consequences.
“What titanium dioxide is really emblematic of … is the FDA’s inability to look back at these old decisions and ask whether the decisions made in this case … 56 years ago (in the 1966 approval) still stand,” he said.
In its statement to USA TODAY, the FDA maintained that in all post-approvals for food additives, “our researchers continue to review relevant new information to determine whether there are safety concerns and whether the use of such substance is no longer safe under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.”
When asked about the recent Skittles lawsuit, the FDA said the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
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Is titanium dioxide illegal in other countries?
Although the regulated use of titanium dioxide in food is legal in the United States and Canada, it is prohibited in some other countries, particularly throughout Europe. In May 2021, the European Food Safety Authority announced that titanium dioxide “can no longer be considered safe as an additive.”
After six months of phasing out the additive, titanium dioxide will be completely banned in the EU from 7 August. France had previously banned the use of titanium dioxide in food from January 2020.
How can I tell if a product has titanium dioxide in it? How can I avoid the ingredient?
Some foods will contain titanium dioxide on the nutrition label. But again, it can be hard to tell for those who don’t list the ingredient.
If you want to avoid titanium dioxide, Stoiber and Faber encourage consumers to try to avoid processed foods as much as possible.
“By reducing processed foods in your diet, you can reduce the likelihood of not only ingesting titanium dioxide, but ingesting other chemicals of concern,” Faber said, noting that consumers can also call their elected officials and urge them to support increased food safety legislation and take action with organizational alliances such as Toxic Free Food FDA. “America, once again, is falling behind the rest of the world on chemical safety.”
“We are not only concerned about titanium dioxide, there are a whole host of other food additives that also have known harmful health risks associated with them,” Stoiber added.
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