In 2019, EFSA published a statement on the review of the risk related to the exposure to food additive titanium dioxide (E171) performed by the French Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES). In its statement, EFSA highlighted that the ANSES opinion reiterated the uncertainties and data gaps previously identified by EFSA and did not present findings that invalidated the Authority’s previous conclusions on the safety of titanium dioxide.
TiO2 comes in many different forms. However, only a few of these forms are considered food-grade (acceptable to be added to food). Many studies that raised concern about the safety of TiO2, including the concern for genotoxicity, used forms of TiO2 that are not considered acceptable for use in food and have different properties than food-grade TiO2. Other studies did use food-grade TiO2, but took steps to break the material down into smaller particles than what would normally be found in food.