Titanium dioxide has just been banned in all European countries, but this food additive continues to be used in Canada in yogurts, ice cream and pastries to make them whiter. This ingredient is not the only one authorized here, but prohibited overseas.
Posted at 6:00 a.m.
“Titanium dioxide is a bleaching agent that is used to make foods whiter and more opaque, to give them a sheen of whiteness,” explains Anne-Marie Desbiens, chemist and author of the blog La Foodie scientifique. “It’s used in ice creams, frostings, sometimes salad dressings,” she adds.
Last January, the European Commission banned titanium dioxide as a food additive and granted the industry a six-month transition period. The ban now applies. The ingredient remains permitted in paints and construction materials as well as in cosmetics, such as cream and toothpaste.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission, said that the nanoparticles of this additive were no longer considered safe.
PHOTO JOHN THYS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission
The safety of the food consumed by our citizens and the health of their citizens are non-negotiable.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission
Faced with the decision of the 27 member countries of the European Union, Health Canada published a “Report on current scientific knowledge” last June. “The findings of the EU expert panel have been taken into account in this report, but Health Canada’s Food Directorate has conducted its own comprehensive review of the available scientific data,” the document reads.
” The experts [de l’Union européenne] did not conclude that TiO particles2 were genotoxic, but they also could not rule out the possibility that they were,” the report said.
The European Union has banned titanium dioxide as a preventive measure, explains Annie Ferland, nutritionist and doctor of pharmacy. She adds that it is impossible to know whether the fears linked to nanoparticles are justified or not.
“The real question we should be asking is: why do we use food coloring? asks the author of the Science & Fourk blog.
Dye is only for coloring. It contributes nothing to conservation, it contributes nothing to the nutritional value of food. It only has an aesthetic role, unlike certain additives which have an effect on the texture or on the preservation.
Annie Ferland, nutritionist and doctor of pharmacy
Aleck Guès-Bergeron, who wrote his master’s thesis on titanium dioxide particles, is also of the opinion that the additive, which has an “aesthetic” function, should be banned in Canada as long as the health risks human will not be completely ruled out. “Is it really imperative to have this additive in circulation? We think of the food chain and the danger to humans, but once it finds its way into the environment, we don’t have any data on the effects on fauna and flora, either,” notes- she.
In Canada, titanium dioxide often appears as a “colorant” in the list of food ingredients. If the additive is not banned, Canadian labeling regulations should be tightened, believes Ciprian-Mihai Cirtiu, scientific adviser at the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ). The researcher took part in a study to measure the concentrations of titanium dioxide nanoparticles in body fluids. Research is illustrated in the ” top 5 scientific discoveries of the year 2021” from the journal The sun.
The term “food coloring” does not tell whether the food contains titanium dioxide or another metal oxide, nor the content, nor the concentration. In my opinion, people should know what is in food. It is our right to know what we ingest, what we eat. It’s our right to know.
Ciprian-Mihai Cirtiu, Scientific Advisor at the National Institute of Public Health (INSPQ)
Some 450 additives in Canada
Titanium dioxide is not the only additive that is banned in Europe, but authorized in Canada. Azodicarbonamide is used here as a whitening agent in certain breads, bagels, pizza doughs and pastries, although it has been banned for more than 10 years in Europe. In English, it is nicknamed “yoga mat” because the chemical compound is used in the manufacture of polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Brominated vegetable oil is also banned in most of Europe, while it is used in citrus-flavored soft drinks in North America. Studies have shown that long-term exposure to this ingredient can cause headaches, memory loss, and coordination problems.
In Canada, approximately 450 food additives are approved by Health Canada, while 320 are permitted in Europe. In most cases, the foods in which they can be used and the quantities allowed are strictly regulated.
Kevin James Wilkinson, full professor in the department of chemistry at the University of Montreal, says Europeans are particularly “proactive” with their regulations to protect the health of their citizens. “Europeans, in general, want to avoid risks for the population whereas in the United States they are completely the opposite and are very permissive. In Canada, we find ourselves somewhere between the two and our regulations are influenced as much by one as by the other. »
The fact remains that Canadian researchers – and foreigners – are overwhelmed by “a wave of chemicals that continues to grow,” says Aleck Gues-Bergeron. Performing a rigorous study on each of the additives is a colossal task… if not impossible, she says.
“The government bodies responsible for this research, they have few researchers, little funds and little time,” she laments.