Most notably, a European Food Safety Authority safety assessment 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 may lead to cancer.

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.