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| U.S. Allows This Food Additive in Breads, Cakes and Ice Cream ‐ But It's Banned in Europe |
| 2025-01-12 |
[CHD] Intro: Titanium dioxide, the most widely used whitening pigment in the world, has been linked to adverse health effects, particularly genotoxicity and intestinal inflammation. It is applied as a food coloring and a whitening agent to chewing gum, cakes, candies, breads and ice cream. Titanium dioxide is the most widely used whitening pigment in the world and has been linked to adverse health effects, particularly genotoxicity and intestinal inflammation. It is applied as a food coloring and a whitening agent to a wide variety of foods, including chewing gum, cakes, candies, breads and ice cream. Because of health risks, France banned titanium dioxide, or TiO2, as a food additive in 2020. Two years later the European Union (EU) also banned titanium dioxide as a food additive. But in the U.S., titanium dioxide is found all over the grocery shelves. Candy like Skittles, Starbursts and Jell-O, gum like Trident White peppermint gum and Mentos Freshmint Gum, cake products like Duncan Hines Creamy Vanilla Frosting and Nabisco Chips Ahoy! cookies are just a few of the myriad food items that contain the additive. A significant body of research, mostly from rodent models and in vitro studies, has linked titanium dioxide with health risks related to the gut, including intestinal inflammation, alterations to the gut microbiota and more. It is classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer in Group 2B, as possibly carcinogenic to humans. As a food additive, titanium dioxide and its nanoparticles in particular have been associated with DNA damage and cell mutations, which in turn, have the potential to cause cancer. When used as a food coloring, it is known as E171. |
| Posted by:DooDahMan |
| #14 Because if the peasants are allowed sunblock they won’t get cancer at the same rate, leading to more of them living longer and using up resources intended for their overlords. Or, more likely, the regulatory bureaucrat’s overweening caution, preferring to forbid any possibility of liability. America’s FDA has become more and more cautious over the years, to the point of absurdity, though to be fair, patients’ willingness to sue their doctors in the hope of a big payout has also done much to drive an attitude of refusing to take any risks. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-01-12 23:44 |
| #13 So, like, why is titanium dioxide banned in Europe again? |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2025-01-12 22:49 |
| #12 I thought sunblock was so bad for the environment that some places don't want you in the water while enjoying your vacation and using sunblock. It's bad for the fishies, ya know. |
| Posted by: DooDahMan 2025-01-12 22:48 |
| #11 Or even "-atogenic." Bill Nighy sigh. |
| Posted by: Pancho Poodle8452 2025-01-12 20:55 |
| #10 "And beware carbon black! Inky, right, But supremotagenic! Too white! An oily emulsion," She sneers with revulsion, "Turns People of Color to bright!" |
| Posted by: Pancho Poodle8452 2025-01-12 20:52 |
| #9 Sunblock is fine, Skidmark. It’s topical, and the titanium dioxide is mixed throughly into the cream. So nothing to breath in, and it is not absorbed. Now if you were to eat several tubes of the stuff — then the perfumes would probably make you vomit it all back out before any of the other ingredients caused problems. That’s how toothpaste flavours work to protect against children getting fluoride poisoning — it’s really quite a clever bit of formulation done across the industry. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-01-12 18:54 |
| #8 So ... sunblock is bad? |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2025-01-12 16:21 |
| #7 Almost anything, even water, can have "adverse health effects" if ingested in large enough quantity. As toxicologists say, the poison is in the dose. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2025-01-12 13:50 |
| #6 You’re very welcome, Rex Mundi. I only worked there a few years, but found the experience very stimulating, and I’ve got to continue enjoying the connection as a corporate spouse. Incidentally, Children’s Health Defense is Robert F. Kennedy Jr‘s outfit. Here’s hoping he concentrates on more important concerns. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-01-12 13:49 |
| #5 Thanks TW - good info. Reminds me of the chrome-6 work my brother did. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2025-01-12 13:17 |
| #4 When I was doing toothpaste product development for the big consumer products cmpany, TiO2 was considered inert, harmless unless the dust as inhaled. But all dusts can be harmful when inhaled due to irritation independent of biochemical interactions. So we wore N95 dust masks when adding powdered ingredients in the lab or pilot plant, and were content. From iCliniq’s TiO2 page: What Possible Negative Impacts on Health Could Titanium Dioxide Have? Principal exposure routes are skin contact, eye contact, and inhalation. Inhalation: High quantities inhaled through the mouth or nose might irritate the throat and nose. Skin Contact: Patients might have a little rash. Eye Contact: As a foreign object, it could cause a little irritation. While debris is being rinsed from the eye by tears, there may be tears, blinking, and minor momentary pain. Ingestion: This compound is not dangerous when consumed. Long-Term (Chronic) Effects Exposure: The few available research do not allow for conclusions to be made. Potential Carcinogen: Animal data suggest that it might cause cancer. ARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer): Group 2B - possibly carcinogenic (cancer-causing) to humans. The ACGIH is the American Conference for Governmental Industrial Hygienists. A3- known to cause cancer in animals. Teratogenicity or Embryotoxicity: No known effects on the developing fetus. Reproductive Toxicity: There are no recognized risks to reproduction. Mutagenicity: No evidence exists that this substance is mutagenic (ability to induce genetic mutation). |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2025-01-12 13:02 |
| #3 It is not the 147 cupcakes per day. It is the Red Dye #2 in the frosting and sprinkles, man! Studies have shown that drinking as little as 8 ounces (~250 ml) of that stuff will turn you orange. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2025-01-12 13:02 |
| #2 It's also used as a thin layer to make cardboard white so colors can be applied. |
| Posted by: Deacon+Blues+ 2025-01-12 13:02 |
| #1 At what levels of consumption? "If you eat 147 cupcakes a day, you could have adverse health consequences!" |
| Posted by: Frank G 2025-01-12 12:35 |