Skittles was one of those candies you would look forward to having as an after school snack from back in the day because it was one of the fruity candies that everyone liked. Or, if you had a party or a get-together, you would pour Skittles from a large bag into a bowl for everyone to enjoy. Perhaps you went to those get-togethers that had Skittles as a candy snack too. However, recently there have been some discoveries that caused those colorful candies where you would “taste the rainbow” to be not so safe to the point that there has been a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers since it was rendered to be “unfit for human consumption.”
Why Is Skittles Unfit For Human Consumption?
The reason that Skittles has been found to be unfit for human consumption is that there is a known toxin in the candy known as titanium dioxide. And when there was a class-action lawsuit filed on July 14th, 2022, in the US District Court for Northern California, it was found that the manufacturers had known about the problems that the chemical posed. The manufacturer, Mars Inc, had even made this public knowledge in 2016 and stated it would begin to remove the chemical from its products. However, that was found to be false, and the company continued to sell the candies that had this chemical in them. You may be wondering why titanium dioxide is so dangerous. Let’s go over that right now.
What Is Titanium Dioxide, And What Are Its Dangers?
Titanium dioxide is a processed chemical compound and it comes from a natural mineral. Candy manufacturers have used the chemical as an anti-caking agent as well as a color additive. Titanium dioxide can be used as a whitener as well. And you will also see it in baked goods, sandwich spreads, salad dressings, chewing gum, coffee creamers, cottage cheese, ice cream, and other dairy products. Also, plenty of other candies and sweets contain the chemical compound.
You will also see this chemical used in non-food items such as makeup, paints, medication, and plastics. Studies have found that as long as the chemical does not exceed the food’s weight, it is safe. However, other studies have found that titanium dioxide does not pass through the body and gets absorbed instead. It gets absorbed into the bloodstream through the intestines and can accumulate in specific organs such as the liver, spleen, and kidneys and cause plenty of damage.
Other studies have found that titanium dioxide can increase the risk of intestinal inflammation as well as certain cancers and damage to the immune system. Therefore, this research was worrisome in 2019 to the point that the government in France wanted to ban the use of titanium dioxide by 2020.
And in 2021, there was another study found a link between titanium dioxide and colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel diseases. And now, it has been found that titanium dioxide can also damage DNA. There needs to be a lot more research on the chemical. However, so far, it has been found that this particular chemical should not be in food and in any products that can be absorbed through the skin, such as cosmetics.
Some Countries Allow Food And Products With Titanium Dioxide
Countries such as Britain and Canada permit foods with titanium dioxide because even though studies have shown that there are links between the chemical and various health problems, many studies still show the damage from the chemical as inclusive. What needs to be done is to keep doing thorough studies on the chemical and also to indicate how much of the chemical is safe to use in the products.
