Yes. According to the FDA and other regulatory agencies globally, “titanium dioxide may be safely used for coloring foods”. Titanium dioxide is safe to use, and the FDA provides strict guidance on how much can be used in food. The amount of food-grade titanium dioxide that is used is extremely small; the FDA has set a limit of 1 percent titanium dioxide for food. There is currently no indication of a health risk at this level of exposure through the diet.

Titanium dioxide particles help light scatter and reflect, Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicology physician at the National Capital Poison Center, told Health. Because of that, we often use it as a whitening agent.

This precipitate is not suitable for a pigment until it is filtered, dried, crushed, heated to a high temperature and quenched in cold water. The second heating in a muffle furnace at 725 °C produces crystals of the right optical size.

As of August 7, the use of titanium dioxide in food is banned in the European Union. Europe is taking a precautionary principle approach based on findings from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

In January 2022, the average price of domestic titanium dioxide in local Chinese marketplaces was 20,735 RMB/MT. Traders were more careful in purchasing goods and downstream industries purchased things on demand. As a result, the overall market demand for titanium dioxide was general.

Earlier this year, a bill was introduced in the California legislature to ban the manufacture, sale and distribution of foods in the state containing titanium dioxide, along with four other harmful food chemicals. 

To put this all into context maybe we should go back to the beginning & Bluescope steel who make all of our lovely Australian colour bond iron roofs.

2. Mentality: the buyer has to prepare goods in advance, and the new order price is slightly less willing to purchase in bulk; Because the seller's inventory is small, the manufacturer has no willingness to reduce the price of sales.Trend: The load of titanium dioxide enterprises is stable, the willingness to ship at low prices is not strong, and the downstream buyers place orders in the early stage to establish inventory, and the short-term supplementary orders after the holiday are less. Anatase titanium dioxide due to the overall volume of the market supply side is less, the space for quotation negotiation is small, and the focus of new orders will move up. It is expected that the titanium dioxide market today just needs to be closed, and the market trading atmosphere is relatively light.

1. Sheet iron method

Of the products that include the additive in their labels, Thea Bourianne, senior manager at data consultant Label Insights, told Food Navigator USA in May 2021 that more than 11,000 products in the company's database of U.S. food and beverage products listed titanium dioxide as an ingredient. Non-chocolate candy led those numbers at 32%. Cupcakes and snack cakes made up 14%, followed by cookies at 8%, coated pretzels and trail mix at 7%, baking decorations at 6%, gum and mints at 4% and ice cream at 2%.

In their role as risk managers, the European Commission and Member States will now reflect on EFSA’s scientific advice and decide upon any appropriate regulatory measures or advice for consumers.

Other food products that list titanium dioxide are Lucerne cottage cheese, Beyond Meat's chicken plant-based tenders, Great Value ice cream and Chips Ahoy! cookies.

Titanium dioxide particles help light scatter and reflect, Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicology physician at the National Capital Poison Center, told Health. Because of that, we often use it as a whitening agent.

From studies deemed relevant, the experts found that titanium dioxide as a food additive is poorly absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract of mice and rats, with no adverse effects observed in short-term studies in rodents receiving titanium dioxide in their diets. No observed adverse effect levels (NOAELs) of 15,000 milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight (mg/kg BW) per day and 5,000 mg/kg BW per day—the highest doses tested—were established for mice and rats, respectively.

While loose titanium dioxide presents a problem, titanium dioxide within sunscreen formulations presents a much safer option than conventional sunscreen chemicals like oxybenzone and octinoxate. However, titanium dioxide may become dangerous when it is nanoparticle size. Generally, nanoparticles can be 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair. Despite nanoparticles becoming increasingly common across industries, they have not been properly assessed for human or environmental health effects, nor are they adequately regulated. Researchers don’t quite understand the impacts nanoparticles could have on human health and the environment. However, because of their infinitesimally small size, nanoparticles may be more chemically reactive and therefore more bioavailable, and may behave differently than larger particles of the same substance; these characteristics may lead to potential damage in the human body or ecosystem.

The US and Canada, however, approve the use of titanium dioxide as a food additive. Canada's recent review of titanium dioxide reconfirmed its safety and pointed out that many of the toxicity studies the EU reviewed were not relevant to the safety of titanium dioxide as a food ingredient, and that the ban is based on an abundance of caution and uncertainty.

Lithopone 30% is a perfect alternative to titanium dioxide in all natural and synthetic pigmented elastomers, as it is non-abrasive and extremely acid resistant. 

What other candies and food contain titanium dioxide?