Titanium dioxide
What you need to know
Titanium dioxide is a bright white colour used to make sweets, icing and coatings look opaque and glossy.
This is the additive with the sharpest split between regulators. In 2022 the European Union banned it from food after its safety panel said it could no longer rule out damage to genetic material. The United States, Australia and New Zealand still permit it.
It has no taste and no nutritional value — it is purely cosmetic.
Where it stands, by region
The same additive can be approved in one country and banned in another. This is the divergence that matters most.
| 🇦🇺AU / NZ | Approved Permitted; FSANZ review concluded no need to change (2023). |
| 🇪🇺EU | Banned Banned in food since August 2022 (genotoxicity could not be excluded). |
| 🇺🇸US | Approved Permitted up to 1% by weight (FDA). |
| 🇨🇦CA | Approved Permitted; Health Canada found no conclusive evidence to ban. |
Health evidence
How settled the science is for each area — not how dangerous. “Unknown” means not enough good studies yet.
TiO₂; food grade is a mix of particle sizes including a nanoscale fraction. EFSA (2021) concluded genotoxicity could not be ruled out and an ADI could not be set.