The titanium dioxide (E171) saga is drawing to a close, and its ban in food across the European Union now seems inexorable. The Commission proposed to Member States on Tuesday 18 May the ban of this controversial additive in food preparations. The Brussels proposal, formulated during a meeting of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Animal Feed did not lead to a vote – therefore to a formal decision – but, according to our information , she encountered no refusals. The only questions that remain unanswered are now the extent of the ban on the additive beyond food (in drugs, in particular) and the schedule that will be imposed on manufacturers.
This is a victory for Paris, which pleaded, against the majority of Member States, for the withdrawal of this additive, widely used as a coloring in industrial pastries, ready meals, chocolates and even confectionery. France is, moreover, to date, the only European country to have banned its use in food. The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced this measure in April 2019, after theNational Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety had issued an opinion emphasizing the genotoxic properties – that is to say the toxicity for DNA – of the product.
Not “a safe food additive”
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) agreed with this opinion, putting an end to a long controversy between certain academic toxicologists and consumer associations on the one hand, and regulatory agencies on the other. In early May, in its new opinion, EFSA acknowledged that titanium dioxide could no longer “Be considered a safe food additive”, leaving the Commission no choice but to support the French request for a ban.
EFSA’s last assessment dated back to 2016 and recommended more studies to fill in data that was deemed incomplete at the time. The last doubts, if they existed, have been removed. “Taking into account all the studies and scientific data available, the group concluded that titanium dioxide can no longer be considered a safe food additive, thus declared Maged Younes, president of the group of experts mandated by the agency. A critical element in reaching this conclusion is that we could not rule out genotoxicity issues that could arise as a result of the consumption of titanium dioxide particles. After oral ingestion, absorption of titanium dioxide particles is poor, but they are likely to accumulate in the body. “
In 2017, a key study conducted by researchers from the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment helped mobilize French opinion, suggesting an increase in precancerous intestinal lesions in animals. laboratory, after absorption of the additive. According to our information, other expertises should be launched at European level to study its replacement in drugs, where it remains widely used – in France and elsewhere.