Are Skittles Toxic from Titanium Dioxide? A recent lawsuit claims a chemical called titanium dioxide, used in Skittles candies, harms people. It’s hard to find strong evidence for that, however

A BALANCED VIEW ON TiO2 SAFETY: I would like to share this article from Scientific American which actually provides a much more balanced approach regarding the media attention that this crazy Skittles lawsuit is getting. I think the subtitle of this article tells the whole story: "A recent lawsuit claims a chemical called titanium dioxide, used in Skittles candies, harms people. It’s hard to find strong evidence for that, however"

In this article, the author actually pays attention to the scientific facts related to the safety of TiO2 and clearly explains that, even in Europe, no one in government (including EFSA) has actually stated that there are any real safety concerns. They simply say that there are some uncertainties related to genotoxicity and therefore they are taking a precautionary approach.... "Just in case"!! Why would it not have made more sense to get the data to reduce the uncertainties BEFORE banning a substance as important as TiO2? That is what should have been done from a scientific perspective.... but that is not what happened in Europe!! The author explains the differences between the European overly "cautious" approach and the scientific approach taken in the U.S., Canada and many other countries where there actually needs to be some type of demonstratable risk before banning something that has been safely used on the market for many decades without any known adverse effects.

This article actually discusses this issue in a reasonable way and does not promote the false claims stated in the Skittles lawsuit and the many media sites that simply are regurgitating what is listed in the lawsuit to get headlines, as opposed to actually doing their job and providing the facts showing that other countries like the UK and Canada have already stated that they disagree with the EFSA Opinion/EU Ban and that they consider TiO2 to be SAFE!

I applaud the author of this Scientific American article, Sam Jones, for actually doing his homework and reporting a balanced view on this issue. Unfortunately, the general consumer probably doesn't read Scientific American and they are unfortunately getting misleading and incorrect news about TiO2 safety from much of the public media. Words like "Toxic" and "Poisonous chemical" have no business being used to describe Skittles or the TiO2 they contain, and it is outrageous how the media has mis-construed and mis-reported this story just to get headlines! Please pass on this Scientific American article to anyone you know who may be thinking the negative stories they are hearing in the media about Skittles and TiO2 safety have any sort of credibility.

Are Skittles Toxic from Titanium Dioxide? - Scientific American