The food additive BANNED in the EU (and Northern Ireland) but still lurking in chewing gum, white chocolate and sauces sold in Britain

Armed with a research dossier suggesting that titanium dioxide causes cancer, EU health authorities decided last year that they had no choice but to ban the widely used food additive.

California lawmakers proposed following suit and enacting the Golden State’s misleadingly named “Skittles ban,” which was approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom this week.

Still, titanium dioxide (or E171) is added to Skittles as well as white chocolate and chewing gum in the United States — was not included in the bill after it was removed from the crosshairs last month.

So California is in contradiction to the EU.

But there is still one place with which it coincides perfectly: Britain. Well, England, Scotland and Wales anyway.

Titanium dioxide (E171) has been used for decades to brighten foods, make them more visually appealing or restore their color. Baked goods, spreads, soups, sauces and salad dressings are among the foods in which it is found. California this week banned brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye #3 – all four of which have long been banned from foods in the UK

E171 has been used for decades to brighten foods to make them more visually appealing or to restore their color. Foods that contain it include baked goods, spreads, soups, sauces and salad dressings.

Bosses at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which regularly checks whether ingredients pose a risk to health, concluded in a 2016 review that E171 was safe – but noted that further research was needed to address gaps in knowledge close.

But in an updated review from May 2021 that took into account thousands of newly published studiesEFSA was unable to confirm that E171 is safe for consumption at any concentration.

Concerns centered on genotoxicity – the worry that the additive’s particles will build up in the body and damage DNA or chromosomes, increasing the risk of cancer.

In response, the European Commission, which ordered the investigation, ultimately banned the ingredient in February 2022. Food manufacturers were given six months to phase out use.

This meant that titanium dioxide would no longer be allowed to be used as a food additive in EU member states, including Northern Ireland, from the end of 2022.

HoweverNevertheless, it can be used in medicines, paints, paper, plastics and cosmetic products.

In the UK, the Committee on Toxicity (COT), an independent scientific committee that advises the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the Department of Health, said the move was not justified because the available evidence did not support EFSA’s conclusions.

In a separate ruling, the UK’s Committee on the Mutagenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COM) said the EU’s move was based on “weak evidence”, was “very risky” and could be “triggering”.“unnecessary worry” in public.

As a result, the additive is still present in foods sold in the UK, such as some cakes, chewing gum and mayonnaise.

However, the FSA told MailOnline it is currently carrying out a risk analysis of the ingredient, which is expected to be completed in early 2024.

E171 can still be added to foods sold in California. The regulation applied to brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye No. 3 – all four of which have long been banned from foods in the UK.

Dr. Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and lecturer at Aston University in Birmingham, said the EU had taken a tougher stance on E171 than the UK after reviewing questionable evidence.

He said a study into whether the additive triggers DNA damage – the mechanism by which it could cause cancer – suggested the particles did not cause changes to DNA.

“Therefore, the basis on which it was banned has been further questioned,” Dr. Mellor.

“However, it should be noted that foods containing titanium oxide are less rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals and are more likely to be foods that we should eat less often if we want to stay healthy.”

Professor Oliver Jones, a chemist at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, told MailOnline that it was questionable whether E171 was “really a question of dose”.

He said: “Many things we are exposed to every day cause cancer, including sunlight and alcohol.” That doesn’t mean we get cancer from going outdoors or that we should ban alcoholic drinks.

“It’s clearly a question of how much sunlight and alcohol we are exposed to – for example, one glass of wine a week is safer than 20 glasses a day.”

Professor Jones, former head of the Department of Life Sciences and Food Technology, said the additive should be investigated to see whether it causes cancer “at the levels we are exposed to it”.

He said: “I don’t think the evidence for titanium dioxide is correct.” Many studies show no effects, and the studies that do suggest a possible effect use levels many times higher than what humans are exposed to.

“I would be more concerned about some of the potential substitutes for titanium dioxide, where we don’t have a lot of toxicity data.”

He pointed out that the EU takes a “prove it is safe” perspective when evaluating ingredients, while other regulators take a “prove it is harmful” perspective.

However, Professor Tom Sanders, an expert in nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, told MailOnline that it “would make sense” for the UK ““in line with the EU on additives based on trade”.