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In 2021, the European Food Safety Authority announced that titanium dioxide “can no longer be considered safe as a food additive”.
The manufacturer of Skittles fruit candies, Mars, Inc., was sued by a citizen of San Leandro, California, who claims that a toxic dye is used in its preparation that puts people at risk of suffering genetic damage, collects USA Today.
According to the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, Jenile Thames’ attorneys said the candies are unfit for human consumption because they contain “elevated levels” of titanium dioxide. .
Although the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA, for its acronym in English) allows the use of the aforementioned additive in the country, as long as it does not exceed 1% of the weight of the food, in other parts of the planet it is prohibited.
Thus, in 2021, the European Food Safety Authority announced that titanium dioxide “can no longer be considered safe as a food additive” and drew attention to the problems of genotoxicity, that is, the ability of chemical substances to damage genetic information (DNA), derived from its consumption.
Furthermore, in the lawsuit filed against Mars, Inc. it is accused of not adequately warning consumers about the health risks posed by the ingestion of the product.
In addition, the plaintiff asserted that, in 2016, the candy manufacturer made public its intentions to eliminate and l titanium dioxide from its products in the coming years, but currently its use is still present in Skittles.
For its part, the manufacturer did not comment on the lawsuit, but reported that the use of the additive “complies with FDA regulations”. to the California consumer.
