The French government release a press release on April 17, 2019, informing that they are banning titanium dioxide in foods from 1 January 2020. The decision, from the Ministry of Environment and from the Ministry of Economy, will be published shortly as a ministerial decree.
E171 is used in foods e.g. mainly as whitener agent.
The French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES) published 12 April an opinion on the ingestion of TiO2, E171, based on an assessment of 25 additional studies not previously assessed by ANSES, or by EFSA in their 2018 opinion.
ANSES also earlier in April defined a toxicity reference value (TRV) for chronic inhalation exposure of TiO2 which is not relevant for oral uptake of E171.
