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Titanium dioxide (E171)

Titanium dioxide (E171) is one of the markers Open Food Facts uses to classify a food as ultra-processed (NOVA group 4).

What it is and why it counts

Titanium dioxide is a white pigment. It has not been authorised as a food additive in the EU since 2022, after the European Food Safety Authority could not rule out concerns about genotoxicity. It remains permitted in the US.

Cosmetic additives

NOVA calls these additives "cosmetic": they change how a product looks, feels or tastes rather than keeping it safe to eat. Their presence is one of the two defining signs of an ultra-processed food.

Function

Colour
Colours are substances which add or restore colour in a food, and include natural constituents of foods and natural sources which are normally not consumed as foods as such and not normally used as characteristic ingredients of food.

Functional class definitions from the EU food additives regulation, via Open Food Facts.

More about titanium dioxide (E171) on Wikidata

Where it turns up

Titanium dioxide (E171) appears in 111 of the 40,000 products on this site (0%).

Products containing titanium dioxide (E171)

Showing the 60 most popular of 111.

How the NOVA classification works