EU Bans Additive Used In Sweets And Cakes

EU member states on Friday agreed to ban a extensively used coloring additive for meals, often called the unreal coloring E171 on labels, after the European regulator questioned its security.

E171 accommodates nanoparticles of titanium dioxide, and is often utilized in a variety of shopper merchandise, together with medicines and cosmetics.

The ban pertains to the additive’s use in meals, the place it serves primarily as a whitening and brightening agent in sweets, chewing gum, white sauces and cake icing.

The Italy-based European Meals Security Authority (EFSA) in Could discovered that there was a danger that the nanoparticles might trigger DNA harm, and no secure stage for its each day consumption could possibly be established.

France suspended its use in meals final 12 months, following analysis suggesting titanium dioxide might trigger pre-cancerous lesions in lab rats.

With none additional objection by member states or the European Parliament by the tip of the 12 months, the ban will enter into pressure in early 2022, stated an announcement from the EU fee.

In the meanwhile, the pharmaceutical industry—which additionally makes use of E171 in drugs manufacturing—won’t be affected by the ban, so as to forestall a scarcity of medical merchandise.

The inexperienced gentle for the ban is “the ultimate nail within the coffin of titanium dioxide as a food additive“, stated Camille Perrin, a consultant of the European Customers Group (BEUC).

“In most European nations, E171 had already largely disappeared from the composition of meals merchandise, but it surely was nonetheless present in some chewing gums, sweets and cake decorations,” she stated.

© 2021 AFP