Is titanium dioxide safe to eat? Fresh research raises concerns over E171
European food safety regulators re-iterated the conclusion that titanium dioxide is safe to eat in 2019 – but a fresh study warned its consumption could have negative consequences for your gut bacteria.
Concerns over its safety persist, prompting France to announce plans to ban the additive in food products from January 2020. According to France’s health and safety agency (ANSES), a lack of evidence guaranteeing the safety of titanium dioxide informed the decision.
While EFSA rejected this conclusion, the agency did acknowledge that there are some “data gaps”.
Meanwhile, fresh research out of Australia suggested that E171 may have a “substantial and harmful influence on human health”. It found that consumption of food containing E171 has an impact on the gut microbiota, which could trigger diseases such as inflammatory bowel diseases and colorectal cancer.
