Banned but still on shelves: E171

Titanium dioxide (E171) is a dye that gives food a bright white colour and adds no nutrition. The EU banned its use in food in February 2022 and Türkiye did the same on 1 April 2024. Even so it can still appear on labels, because the ban applies to new production and stock already on shelves keeps selling through for a while.

What is E171 and what is it for?

E171 is the form of titanium dioxide used as a food additive. Its function is entirely visual: it gives a product an opaque, bright whiteness and makes colours look more vivid. It is used so that a sweet's coating looks more appealing or white icing looks whiter. It contributes nothing to taste, texture, shelf life or nutrition. Removing it therefore does not affect how the product works, only how it looks.

Which products used to contain it?

• Hard sweets and dragee coatings: the most common use, for a bright white surface.
• Chewing gum coatings: to give the outer shell a matt white look.
• White icing, cake decorations and ready-made coatings.
• Some white sauces and powdered mixes: for opacity.
• Coatings on medicine and supplement tablets: this use falls outside the food ban and is covered by separate regulation.

Why was it banned?

In its 2021 re-evaluation the EU food safety authority EFSA drew attention to two points. First, that part of food-grade titanium dioxide consists of nano-sized particles, and that these particles can be absorbed from the gut in very small amounts and accumulate in the body. Second, and decisively, that genotoxicity, meaning damage to DNA, could not be ruled out with the available data.

Because it is not possible to set a safe intake level for genotoxicity, EFSA concluded that E171 could no longer be considered safe as a food additive. One point deserves care here: this does not mean 'E171 causes cancer'. The authority did not say it had proven a risk, but that it could not prove the absence of one, and the precautionary principle led to a ban.

The ban timeline

If it is banned, why does it still appear on labels?

Banning an additive does not mean every product containing it disappears from shelves the next day. The ban applies to new production; products already made generally keep selling through their shelf life. On top of that comes a data lag: the ingredient information in product databases may come from the previous packaging rather than the manufacturer's latest label. That is why a product you scan today can show an older record.

So seeing E171 on a label does not necessarily mean that product is breaking the rules today. It is more often about how current the information in front of you is. We explain how we handle these data lags on our method page.

What our own database shows

Among the food products with known ingredients in our own database, we found a titanium dioxide record in 33 products. The number looks small within the whole catalogue, but what it shows matters: an additive that is no longer permitted can still turn up through older label data. Some of these records are most likely un-updated data, while some may genuinely be old stock. You can see the wider picture of the Turkish market in our shelf report.

Is the titanium dioxide in sunscreen the same thing?

No, and the distinction matters. Titanium dioxide in sunscreen is a mineral UV filter: it stays on the surface of the skin, reflects light and is not absorbed to any meaningful degree through intact skin. E171 in food, by contrast, is swallowed and passes through the digestive system. Because the two uses meet the body by different routes, they are assessed separately. Titanium dioxide is still permitted in cosmetics and counts among the filters tolerated well by sensitive skin.

What is used instead?

Most manufacturers either removed the whitener altogether or moved to alternatives such as calcium carbonate (E170) and rice starch. The result is usually a slightly less brilliant, slightly off-white look. There is no functional loss; only the eye has to adjust. Choosing an alternative without E171 therefore costs nothing in taste or quality.

How do you recognise it on a label?

• It may be written as 'titanium dioxide' or, in Turkish, 'titanyum dioksit'.
• It can appear as the code 'E171'; we explain what E-numbers mean on this page.
• It may be given with its function, as in 'colour (E171)'.
• It is especially worth checking on white-coated sweets and chewing gum.
• You can also search our ingredient library by name: Discover.

Three common misunderstandings

• Assuming the ban applies only in the EU: Türkiye also banned its use in food from 1 April 2024.
• Jumping from 'I saw it on a label' to 'this must be illegal': old stock and un-updated label data are the more likely explanation.
• Treating the titanium dioxide in sunscreen as the same thing: one is a UV filter that stays on the skin, the other a swallowed colourant.

Why is nano size a separate issue?

E171 is not a uniform powder. A proportion of its particles are at the nano scale, meaning below 100 nanometres. That detail is the technical reason at the centre of the debate. Very small particles of the same chemical do not behave the same way as large ones: the surface area grows disproportionately and the particle becomes small enough to cross the gut wall. The assessment therefore turned less on 'is titanium dioxide harmful' and more on 'what happens at this particle size'.

In its 2021 assessment the European Food Safety Authority stated that a concern over genotoxicity could not be ruled out, meaning the possibility of the substance damaging genetic material could not be definitively excluded. What is being said here is not 'harm has been proven'. What is being said is that a safe daily intake level could not be established. In additive law those two lead to the same outcome: if no safe limit can be set, permission cannot be granted either. That is the reasoning behind the decision.

Were all white additives banned?

No, and knowing this distinction prevents needless worry. Calcium carbonate (E170) is still permitted and is used in some products to provide whiteness and opacity. Titanium dioxide has not been banned outside food either: it is still used as a mineral filter in sunscreens, in toothpaste and in make-up. The ban applies only to products that are eaten, because the concern arises from exposure through swallowing. Titanium dioxide in sunscreen stays on the skin and is not swallowed.

In short, seeing titanium dioxide on a label means different things depending on the type of product. On a food label it should no longer be there. On a sunscreen label it is an expected and intended component. We have collected this ingredient's role in cosmetics on its own page.

Why were children discussed separately?

Children became a separate heading in the E171 debate not because the substance is specifically dangerous to them, but because of the shape of the exposure. There are two reasons. First, E171 was used most in products such as sweets, chewing gum, cake decorations and coated dragees, which are largely consumed by children. Second, additive exposure is calculated per unit of body weight; the same amount of sweets means several times higher exposure in a 20 kilogram child than in a 70 kilogram adult.

When those two factors stack up, a serious gap opened between a child and an adult eating the same amount of the same product. That is what caught the regulators' attention. Since the ban applies to everyone anyway, you do not need to take any child-specific precaution today; but if you see E171 on an old stock packet of sweets, this explains why it was worth changing.

What names does it appear under on labels?

• E171: the shortest and most frequently printed form.
• Titanium dioxide: the full name written out instead of the code, the same substance.
• Titanium Dioxide: the spelling you will see on imported products and in cosmetic INCI lists.
• CI 77891: the colour index number used in cosmetics, not expected on a food label.

Who does what when an additive is banned?

In Europe the scientific assessment is done by EFSA: it reviews the available studies, asks whether a safe daily intake level can be established and publishes an opinion. That opinion is not a rule in itself, it is the reasoning behind one. The decision is taken by the European Commission together with the member states and published as a change to the legislation. So the sentence 'EFSA banned it' is technically incomplete: EFSA assesses, the Commission bans. Knowing that division of labour makes news coverage easier to follow.

The chain works in a similar way in Türkiye. Which additive may be used in which product and at what level is set out in the Turkish Food Codex, and the regulation is administered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Because the codex is largely aligned with EU legislation, a change in the EU usually reaches these shelves after a delay. That is exactly what happened with E171: Türkiye banned its use in food roughly two years after the EU decision. The gap does not mean the decision 'never arrived', it means legislation moves on its own timetable.

Ingredients that give a white, opaque look

E171 was never alone on the shelf; whiteness can be achieved in several ways. The table below places the ingredients that do the same visual job side by side, in food and in cosmetics.

The main message of the table is this: a white appearance is not the work of a single substance, and E171 leaving the shelf does not mean white products have gone with it. Nor is it a contradiction that the same substance is banned in food yet permitted in cosmetics, because the assessment looks at the route by which it meets the body rather than at its name. A particle that is swallowed and a particle that stays on the skin do not enter the same calculation.

Common mistakes when reading additive news

The E171 debate turned out to be a good example of how additive news gets misread. The five mistakes below repeat with almost every new story. We covered the general logic of the codes separately in are E-numbers harmful.

• Treating 'it was banned' as 'harm was proven': regulators sometimes withdraw permission not because they proved a risk but because they could not set a safe limit.
• Confusing a laboratory dose with the amount on a plate: the quantities used in cell and animal studies can be far above everyday consumption.
• Focusing on one additive and skipping the product as a whole: in a sweet, the sugar content and the portion are usually what matter most.
• Mistaking one authority's decision for a global rule: the same substance can be judged differently in different countries, and that does not necessarily mean one of them is wrong.
• Mistaking an old story for a current one: additives are periodically reassessed, and today's position may differ from that of five years ago.

Who does this really matter for?

Because E171 is no longer permitted in food, nobody needs to take a special precaution today. Even so, given the possibility of old stock and lagging label data, checking the label makes more sense for some groups than for others.

• Families with small children: because exposure is calculated per unit of body weight, the same packet of sweets amounts to a higher level in a child; we gathered what to look at in children's products in our children's products post.
• People who regularly eat sweets, chewing gum and cake decorations: E171 was used most in these three groups, so the chance of old stock is highest there too.
• People who buy imported goods: stock cycles move at different speeds in different countries, and an older label turns up more often on an imported packet.
• Anyone working with label data: apps and databases show the last recorded label rather than the manufacturer's current packaging, and knowing about that lag prevents wrong conclusions.

A 30 second check at the shelf

• Turn the packet over and find the colour line: read the code next to the words 'colour' or 'colourant'.
• On white-coated sweets, dragees and chewing gum, look for titanium dioxide or E171; that is the most likely place.
• If you find it, check the production or best-before date: an older batch is the most likely explanation.
• If an alternative without it sits on the same shelf, take that one; since the whiteness is only decoration, there is no loss of taste or quality.
• Note down any codes you cannot work out; you can look them up one by one on the E-number basics page afterwards.

Why are medicine and supplement coatings kept separate?

The food ban does not cover tablet coatings, and this is one of the most frequently asked points. The reason is not inconsistency but separate legislation: medicines fall under their own licensing system rather than food additive rules, and there benefit and risk are weighed against the purpose of the medicine. The scale of exposure differs too; the amount in the coating of one tablet a day is not of the same order as the amount in regularly eaten sweets. Work on alternatives continues on the medicines side, but that is a separate process. In short, someone who sees titanium dioxide on a box should not conclude from it that the food ban is being broken.

In short

E171 was a purely visual colourant that added no nutrition, and neither the EU nor Türkiye permits it in food any more. The most likely reason you can still see it on a label is old stock and un-updated data. The aim is informed choice rather than panic: since the whiteness is only decoration, choosing an alternative without it costs you nothing. If you want to see what is in a product you are holding, you can scan its barcode.