What E171 is
E171 is titanium dioxide: a bright white mineral pigment that makes food look whiter and more opaque. It has no nutritional role, and since 2022 it is no longer allowed in food in the EU.
For years it was in sweets, chewing gum, bakery decorations and white sauces or coatings. Its job was purely cosmetic: a brighter white, a more solid colour. Part of it is made up of nanoparticles, which mattered in its re-evaluation.
Because it is a mineral rather than an animal or plant product, it is suitable for vegans and gluten-free. The problem with E171 was never where it comes from; it was whether it is safe to eat.
Why it was banned
In May 2021 EFSA concluded that E171 "can no longer be considered safe" as a food additive, because a concern for genotoxicity — damage to genetic material — could not be ruled out.
The key point is what that means. EFSA did not prove that E171 causes harm; it could not rule out that it does. Without that, no safe daily intake could be set, and an additive with no safe intake level has no place on the authorised list.
The Commission followed with Regulation (EU) 2022/63, which removed E171 from the permitted food additives. After a six-month transition, it has not been allowed in food produced in the EU since 7 August 2022. Products already lawfully on the market before that date could be sold until their date of minimum durability.
Where you can still find it
The ban covers food in the EU only. Medicines, cosmetics and food made for other markets follow different rules.
Medicines: Regulation 2022/63 itself provisionally kept titanium dioxide among the colours allowed in medicines, partly to avoid shortages while alternatives are developed. That is why you may see it in a tablet’s leaflet.
Toothpaste, cosmetics, sunscreen: these are regulated separately and are not covered by the food ban. There it is not written as E171 but as "CI 77891" or "Titanium Dioxide". In sunscreen it works as a UV filter.
Food from outside the EU: in the US, titanium dioxide remains an approved food colour, up to 1% by weight. On packs not made for the European market it may appear as "Titanium dioxide", "Color" or under its international number, INS 171.
If you find it in food on the shelf
A food sold in the EU today should not contain E171. If you see it in the ingredients, it is either old stock still within its date or a product that was not intended for the European market.
Look in the list for "E171", "titanium dioxide" or, on Greek packs, "διοξείδιο του τιτανίου". On imports with English-only labels, also check for "INS 171" or "Colour 171". The usual candidates are imported sweets, candy, chewing gum and cake decorations.
In Greece, food safety and labelling are enforced by EFET (the Hellenic Food Authority), which is where to report a product you believe does not comply. Keep a photo of the label and of where you bought it.
How Ingredo.app reads it
The same material is judged differently depending on whether you eat it or put it on your skin, because EFSA’s opinion is about ingestion.
In food: a high-risk additive
- E171 is marked as a high-risk additive, citing EFSA and Regulation 2022/63.
- A food that contains it cannot score above 49, however good the rest of its ingredients are.
In a cosmetic or sunscreen: no penalty
- As CI 77891 in a cream, make-up or sunscreen it costs no points, because in cosmetics it is governed by its own regulation, at permitted levels.
- A cosmetic’s score does not use the food additive risk tiers; those measure what you eat, not what you apply.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Titanium dioxide is a mineral pigment, not an animal or plant product, so it is suitable for vegans and gluten-free. It was banned from food in the EU for safety reasons, not because of where it comes from.
Regulation (EU) 2022/63 withdrew its authorisation. After a six-month transition, it has not been allowed in food produced in the EU since 7 August 2022; products already on the market could be sold until their date of minimum durability.
In 2021 EFSA concluded that a concern for genotoxicity (potential DNA damage) could not be ruled out, so no safe daily intake level could be set.
Yes. In the US it remains an approved food colour under 21 CFR 73.575, up to 1% by weight of the food. That is why you may find it in products not made for the European market.
The EU ban applies to food only. Toothpaste, cosmetics and sunscreen are regulated separately and are not covered by it, and Regulation 2022/63 provisionally kept titanium dioxide as a colour in medicines.