Large-scale screening of E171 food additive (TiO2) on the French market from 2018 to 2022: Occurrence and particle size distribution in various food categories

Titanium dioxide (TiO2, E171) was an authorised food additive widely used as a white food colouring in line with the provisions laid down in Annexes II to Regulation (EC) 1333/2008 on food additives. Following the opinion of the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) on the risks associated with ingestion of the food additive E171, the precautionary principle led France to suspend the use of the additive E171 in food from January 1st, 2020. Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63 of January 14, 2022 banned the use of E171 as a food additive in the European Union two years later. This study reports the outcome of a 5-year screening (2018–2022) of food products on the French market following diverse regulatory changes at the French and European levels. Three hundred and fifty-two food products and nineteen food additives were collected by the French authorities and analysed to determine the actual presence, content and/or particle size distribution of E171 additive. Titanium was detected in 169 food samples. Then, after the identification of 17 false positive samples (i.e. samples with potential sources of cross-contamination or endogenous sources of titanium), the presence of E171 was confirmed in 152 samples with TiO2 contents ranging from 0.6 to 19,130 mg kg−1 (average = 1597 mg kg−1 and median = 684 mg kg−1). Single particle inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (spICP-MS) analysis confirmed that E171 additive used in food products contained a fraction of nano-sized particles (from 5.3% to 88.1% - average = 23.7% - median = 21.5% - n = 82). Investigation of the presence and quantification of TiO2 before and after its ban, by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES) demonstrated that the business operators were globally able to implement the suspension and find alternatives to the use of E171. The percentage of food products containing E171 dropped from 68% in 2018 to 17% in 2021. However, by taking a closer look at the origin of the products, this study also evidenced that particular attention should be addressed to food products imported on the EU market since EU rules apply independently of where they were manufactured. In 2022, imported food products were indeed more likely to contain TiO2 without necessarily mentioning it on the ingredient list. Indeed, 63% of the food products containing E171 in 2022 were originating from non-EU countries.