In food, titanium dioxide has a few different uses. Most notably, its food-grade form is used as a colorant to enhance and brighten the color of white foods such as dairy products, candy, frosting, and the powder on donuts. For foods that are sensitive to UV light, titanium dioxide is used for food safety purposes to prevent spoilage and increase the shelf life of food.
Prof Maged Younes, Chair of EFSA’s expert Panel on Food Additives and Flavourings (FAF), said: “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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