Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives risk assessment of titanium dioxide risk released – background information

Overview

Assessment of the health impacts of the food colour additive titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been released by the and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) on 24 November 2023.

 After reviewing the available scientific literature JECFA noted limitations in the available evidence for genotoxicity. JECFA emphasizes that the OECD guidelines for investigating genotoxicity have been developed and validated for chemicals, and that they may not be easily applicable without adaptations for testing poorly soluble particulate matter such as TiO2. Recognizing the limitations and some equivocal findings in the available data on genotoxicity JECFA noted that the available data did not provide convincing evidence of genotoxicity for TiO2 (INS171).

“JECFA reviewed all available research on genotoxicity risk and determined that the evidence is insufficient, owing mostly to the lack of suitable testing methodologies for nanoparticles,” said Dr Moez Sanaa, WHO’s Head of the Standards and Scientific Advice on Food and Nutrition Unit. “We need more research to address the current uncertainty about the distribution of TiO2 particle sizes in food and to develop genotoxicity tests that are more appropriate for nanoparticles”.