In a lawsuit filed last week, a consumer alleged that Skittles were unfit for human consumption because the rainbow candy contained a known toxin – an artificial color additive called titanium dioxide.


Barium sulfide is produced by carbothermic reduction of barium sulfate. Zinc sulfate is obtained from a variety of zinc products, often waste, by treatment with sulfuric acid.
2. What foods contain titanium dioxide?
Aside from its use in paints, coatings, plastics, and paper, TiO2 is also utilized in a variety of other industrial applications. It is commonly found in cosmetics, sunscreens, and food products, where it serves as a safe and effective whitening agent. TiO2 is also used in the production of ceramics, glass, and textiles, where it enhances their appearance, durability, and resistance to fading.
Nanotoxicology “focuses on determining the adverse effects of nanomaterials on human health and the environment.”
The toxicity of P25TiO2NPs was evaluated in both prokaryotic (Fig. 3) and eukaryotic cells (Fig. 4). The XTT assay was chosen to measure the cell viability in bacterial cultures of MSSA, a normal skin microbiota microorganism. The reduction in the viability of samples with bare NPs is notorious, possibly due to the described ROS production from the interaction of P25TiO2NPs with light [37]. This effect seems to be avoided when they are functionalized with vitamin B2. Also, the most concentrated vitaminB2@P25TiO2NPs sample (0.2 mg/mL) shows up to 60% more absorbance after 6 h compared to the bare NPs (due to normal cell replication). This may indicate that the antioxidant effect of the vitamin B2 coating is greater than the oxidation damage produced by the NPs. This protective capacity could be attributed to the glutathione redox cycle and the conversion of reduced riboflavin to its oxidized form [38]. Values of cell viability greater than 100% are not rare and could be understood because the XTT assay actually measure metabolic activity when reducing the tetrazole to formazan. It is usually assumed that conversion is dependent on the number of viable cells, but it could also be related to an expected increased enzymatic activity when cells are exposed to small doses of some new substance. Further analysis showed that this effect was not the only one responsible for better cell viability of vitaminB@P25TiO2NPs treated samples.

The global Lithopone market was valued at $169.8 million in 2019, and is projected to reach $218.6 million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 3.30% from 2020 to 2027.

It has an extremely high melting point of 1 843ºC and boiling point of 2 972ºC, so occurs naturally as a solid, and, even in its particle form, it is insoluble in water. TiO2 is also an insulator.