Use of Food Additive Titanium Dioxide (E171) before the Introduction of Regulatory Restrictions Due to Concern for Genotoxicity

Food-grade titanium dioxide (TiO(2); E171) is a coloring food additive. In May 2021, a scientific opinion was published by the European Food Safety Authority concluding that TiO(2) can no longer be considered as a safe food additive. Our aim was to investigate the trends in the use of TiO(2) in the food supply. A case study was conducted in Slovenia using two nationally representative cross-sectional datasets of branded foods. Analysis was performed on N = 12,644 foods (6012 and 6632 in 2017 and 2020, respectively) from 15 food subcategories where TiO(2) was found as a food additive. A significant decrease was observed in the use of TiO(2) (3.6% vs. 1.8%; p < 0.01). TiO(2) was most often used in the chewing gum category (36.3%) in 2017, and chocolate and sweets category (45.9%) in 2020. Meanwhile, in 2017, the largest share of TiO(2)-containing foods was observed in the chewing gum category, namely, 70.3%, and these products presented over 85% of the market share. In 2020, only 24.6% of chewing gums contained TiO(2), which accounted for only 3% of the market share. In conclusion, we showed an overall decrease in TiO(2) use, even though it has not yet been officially removed from the list of authorized food additives.