Stability and darkening:

Following the EU’s ban on E171, the FDA told the Guardian that, based on current evidence, titanium dioxide as a food additive is safe.  “The available safety studies do not demonstrate safety concerns connected to the use of titanium dioxide as a color additive.”

The brands of lithopone of the normal class, that of chemical manufacture, are marketed under such names as Ponolith, Beckton White, Jersey Lily White, Oleum White, Zinc Sulphide White, all of these being of domestic manufacture, and their composition is of the 30 per cent. zinc sulphide type. The German manufacturers and exporters of lithopone make use of fancy names for their brands and here are a few examples of these and the composition of the pigment:-

Certificate of Analysis (Lithopone B301, Lithopone B311 powder TDS)

Wegman’s puts titanium dioxide in its Original Macaroni and Cheese. Campbell’s Healthy Request Chunky Chicken Corn Chowder has it, as does Food Club’s Chunky New England Clam Chowder. Marzetti uses the color agent to brighten its Cream Cheese Fruit Dip. Dairy products usually don’t need titanium dioxide to look white, but Kroger has decided to add titanium dioxide to its Fat Free Half-and-Half. And titanium dioxide isn’t only in especially white or brightly colored foods: Little Debbie adds it to Fudge Rounds and many other products. According to the Food Scores database maintained by Environmental Working Group, more than 1,800 brand-name food products have titanium dioxide on their ingredients list. That said, it can still lurk as an unspecified “artificial color,” or labels might simply say “color added.”

Titanium dioxide is one of the most widely used white pigments, often used to add whiteness and brightness to products. It is used in the production of paints, coatings, plastics and other products to provide a white color or opacity.

In terms of manufacturers, there are many companies that produce calcium carbonate and titanium dioxide. Some of the top manufacturers of calcium carbonate include Omya, Imerys, and Minerals Technologies. These companies have large mining operations and production facilities in regions where calcium carbonate is abundant.

The California plaintiff is apparently not the only one concerned about titanium dioxide. The European Union recently banned its use citing concerns about serious health consequences.

Titanium dioxide, a versatile and widely used material, finds its application in various industries including the rubber industry. This white pigment is known for its excellent UV resistance, durability, and opacity, making it an ideal choice for enhancing the properties of rubber products.

Challenges and Innovations

Zhu et al. were the first to provide evidence that TiO₂ NPs (21 nm) can transfer from daphnia to zebrafish by dietary exposure. Hence, dietary intake could be a major route of exposure to NPs for high trophic level aquatic organisms. Ecological research should therefore focus, not only on the concentration of NPs in the environment, but also on its bioconcentration, bioaccumulation and biomagnification. In addition it has been shown that TiO₂ NPs can increase accumulation of other environmental toxicants: enhanced accumulation of cadmium (Cd) and arsenic (As) was found in carp in the presence of TiO₂ NPs. The strong adsorption capacity for Cd and As was explained by the large specific surface area and strong electrostatic attraction of TiO₂ NPs that contribute to facilitated transport into different organs.

Lithopone is chemically inert and practically insoluble in acids, alkalis and solvents. The optimized particle-size distribution of Lithopone attained by means of co-precipitation and calcining permit the achievement of a high apparent density, which imparts to Lithopone its low resin requirement and its excellent rheological behaviour.