rutile powder

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Prof. Maged Younes, Chair of EFSA’s expert Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF), wrote of the decision: “Taking into account all available scientific studies and data, the Panel concluded that titanium dioxide can no longer be considered safe as a food additive. A critical element in reaching this conclusion is that we could not exclude genotoxicity concerns after consumption of titanium dioxide particles. After oral ingestion, the absorption of titanium dioxide particles is low, however they can accumulate in the body.”

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I will now describe some typical methods of practicing my invention, whereby lithopone of any desired grade may be produced. One of the known grades of lithopone as prepared and mixed for the trade contains sev- 6o enteen per cent. of zinc sullid. To produce this grade and a by-product of hydrosulfid of sodium, for example, I proceed as follows: The usual precautions, it will be understood, mustbe taken in preparing or for insuring the purity of the several ingredients used; but these preliminaries do not require description here. Separate aqueous solutions of the following ingredients in the proportions named are prepared: zinc sulfate, one x hundred and sixty-one pounds; barium sulfid, three hundred and thirty-eight pounds, and sodium bisulfate one hundred and twenty pounds. These ingredients, it will be recognized, are readily soluble in water. The separate solutions are then mixed and the following chemical reaction at once takes place:

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Yes. According to the FDA and other regulatory agencies globally, “titanium dioxide may be safely used for coloring foods”. Titanium dioxide is safe to use, and the FDA provides strict guidance on how much can be used in food. The amount of food-grade titanium dioxide that is used is extremely small; the FDA has set a limit of 1 percent titanium dioxide for food. There is currently no indication of a health risk at this level of exposure through the diet.

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