Titanium dioxide (E171)

Names on a label

• E171
• E 171
• Titanium dioxide
• CI 77891

Labels outside Europe often print the number on its own, without the E.

What it’s used for

The FDA lists these uses in food: anticaking agent or free-flow agent; color or coloring adjunct; drying agent; humectant; processing aid; surface-finishing agent; tracer.¹

What regulators and scientists say

• The EU removed it from its list of permitted food additives in January 2022, with a transition period for existing foods until August 7, 2022. EFSA had concluded that it “can no longer be considered safe when used as a food additive.”²
• The FDA permits it as a color additive by regulation (21 CFR 73.350, 73.575).¹
• IARC classifies it as possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B, 2010).³

IARC’s groups “indicate the strength of the evidence as to whether an agent is capable of causing cancer,” but they don’t measure how likely cancer is at a given level of exposure.⁴