What foods can food-grade titanium dioxide (titanium dioxide) be added to

Food-grade titanium dioxide is permitted by GB2760 in China and can be added to various foods as a colorant. What foods can food-grade titanium dioxide be added to?

Serial number

Application Range of Food-grade Titanium Dioxide in Food

One

Meat products, poultry products.

Two

Marinated fish and related products (fish sausage, fish balls), mollusks, crustaceans and spines.

Three

Dairy products, flavor milk, fermented milk (chocolate milk, cocoa milk drinks, yogurt, whey drinks).

Four

Cream, milk powder, refined milk and its analogues, ice cream powder, cheese, whey products, etc.

Five

Emulsifier (product fat content less than 80%).

Six

Fruits, vegetables and their dried products (mushrooms, fungi), algae, etc.

Seven

Vegetables in bottled, bottled or boiled bags.

Eight

Candy, icing, solid drinks, etc.

Nine

Grain and starch products, bread, dough, noodles, etc.

Ten

Pre-cooked or processed rice products, such as rice cakes.

Eleven

Soybean products, such as soybean paste.

Twelve

Egg products (eggs, preserved eggs, etc.).

Thirteen

Sweetener, salad.

Fourteen

Condiments, soup products, etc.

Fifteen

Seasoning sauce and its products.

Sixteen

Yeast products.

Seventeen

Protein products.

Eighteen

Medical nutrition.

Nineteen

Weight loss products.

Twenty

Food nutrients, health products.

Twenty-one

Soda water, beer and malt drinks, flavor drinks, sports, energy drinks and others.

Twenty-two

Wine, cider, pear wine, honey wine.

Twenty-three

Distilled alcoholic drinks (alcoholic content higher than 15%) and alcoholic beverages.

Twenty-four

Ready-to-eat products.

Twenty-five

Other categories.

Food-grade titanium dioxide is mainly used in meat products, salted fish products, candy, baked food, cheese, sugar coatings, seasonings and food supplements. If used in conjunction with other pigments, soft colours can be produced. Because titanium dioxide is insoluble in water, it should be dissolved in a medium, such as edible oil, propylene glycol, syrup or water solution added with thickener, before further operation.

Although food-grade titanium dioxide is used in many food industries, many countries require its purity to be over 99%. Because titanium dioxide is insoluble in water, hydrochloric acid, dilute sulfuric acid and organic solvents, it hardly reacts with food ingredients. In 1969, the FAO/WHO Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives and Pollutants (JECFA, 1970) did not specify the ADI (daily allowable intake) value of food-grade titanium dioxide. It may be considered that titanium dioxide is non-toxic. JECFA draws this conclusion on the basis of discussing the safety of food-grade titanium dioxide, including its absorption, distribution, metabolism and toxicological experiments. JECFA concludes that: "Food-grade titanium dioxide is insoluble compound. Several species including human are studied to show its uptake. Titanium dioxide has neither a large amount of absorption nor deposition of tissue. So far, there is no conclusion about soluble titanium compounds. Valuable records show that the absorption of small amounts of titanium ions has no toxic effect, so it is not necessary to prescribe daily human intake. Because of the insolubility and chemical inertia of food-grade titanium dioxide, the intake in food is regulated only in GMP.