E171 (titanium dioxide) no longer safe, EFSA says

On 6 May 2021, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a study probing the risks of the toxicity of titanium dioxide – also known as food additive E171. The European Commission requested this evaluation in March 2020, as the evaluation conducted in 2016 lacked substantial data.

When used as a food colouring, this additive gives vibrancy and texture to many colourless industrial products. E171 could be found in processed food such as sandwiches, bakery wares or soups.

The main risk highlighted by EFSA is genotoxicity, more precisely strand breaks and chromosomal damage (mutations are not included). It is now up to the relevant stakeholders (i.e., the European Commission and the EU member states) to incorporate EFSA’s scientific advice in their upcoming regulation.


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