Titanium dioxide

E number E171INS 171CAS 13463-67-7

Used as a colour.

Titanium dioxide is a bright white mineral pigment used to whiten and opacify confectionery coatings, icings, sauces and chewing gum. It is the additive on which the EU and the United States have most visibly diverged: the EU withdrew its authorisation in 2022 while the FDA continues to permit it.

Where it is and isn’t permitted

Status of Titanium dioxide by jurisdiction. Every jurisdiction this site covers is listed, including those where the substance does not appear.
JurisdictionStatusScope and limitsCitation
United StatesFood and Drug AdministrationPermitted21 CFR 73.575retrieved 2026-09-07
Codex AlimentariusCodex Alimentarius Commission / JECFAPermitted, with conditions

2 food categories

no numerical limit (good manufacturing practice)

Show every food category
  • 08.1.1 Fresh meat, poultry and game, whole pieces or cuts — GMP
  • 09.2.2 Frozen battered fish, fish fillets and fish products, including molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms — GMP
CXS 192-1995 Table Three, INS 171and 2 further provisionsretrieved 2026-09-07

What it is made from

Refined from the titanium ores ilmenite and rutile by either the sulfate or the chloride process, then milled to pigment-grade particles. It is a mineral product with no animal or plant material involved. Particle size is central to the regulatory argument about it.

  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
CAS registry number
13463-67-7
InChIKey
GWEVSGVZZGPLCZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N
PubChem
CID 26042

Every name it appears under

66 recorded names. A label may use any of them.

E number

  • E171

INS number

  • 171

CAS registry number

  • 13463-67-7

As it appears in regulation

  • Titanium dioxide

Other names

  • A-Fil Cream
  • Austiox R-CR 3
  • Bayertitan A
  • Bayertitan R-U-F
  • Bayertitan T
  • Cab-O-Ti
  • Calcotone White T
  • CI Pigment White 6
  • E 171
  • Flamenco
  • Hombitan
  • Hombitan R 101D
  • Hombitan R 610K
  • Horse head a-410
  • Horse head a-420
  • Horse head r-710
  • Kronos
  • Kronos RN 40P
  • Kronos RN 56
  • Levanox White RKB
  • Rayox
  • Runa rh20
  • Rutiox CR
  • Sagenite
  • Tichlor
  • Tiofine
  • Tiona td
  • Tioxide
  • Tioxide AD-M
  • Tioxide R-CR
  • Tioxide R-SM
  • Tioxide R.XL
  • Tioxide RHD
  • Tioxide RSM
  • Tipaque
  • Tipaque R 820
  • Titafrance
  • Titan White
  • Titandioxid
  • Titania
  • Titanic anhydride
  • Titanic oxide
  • Titanium (IV) oxide
  • Titanium dioxide
  • Titanium White
  • Titanox
  • Titanox RANC
  • Tronox
  • Unitane
  • Unitane o-110
  • Unitane o-220
  • Unitane OR 450
  • Unitane OR 650
  • Unitane or-150
  • Unitane or-340
  • Unitane or-342
  • Unitane or-350
  • Unitane or-540
  • Unitane or-640
  • Zopaque
  • Zopaque LDC

Systematic names

  • dioxotitanium

Hazard reference values

No reference value for this substance in the sources we hold.

Evidence and how bodies read it

How different bodies read the evidence

Positions are paraphrased in each body's own framing. Where they differ, both stand; this site does not adjudicate between them.

  1. FDA 2026

    Continues to list titanium dioxide as a colour additive exempt from certification, permitted for colouring foods generally at up to 1 percent by weight, and has not adopted the European conclusion.

    Action taken: Listing retained

    Source document

  2. European Union (legislature) 2022

    Acted on the EFSA opinion by removing titanium dioxide from the list of food additives authorised in the Union, with a transition period for existing products.

    Action taken: Revoked authorisation

    Source document

  3. EFSA 2021

    Concluded that titanium dioxide could no longer be considered safe as a food additive, on the basis that a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out and that no acceptable daily intake could therefore be established.

    Action taken: Withdrew the safety conclusion; no ADI established

    Source document

Sources for this page

  • ecfr retrieved 2026-09-07
  • gsfa retrieved 2026-09-07

Full licence terms and publisher details on Sources. How this page is built and updated: Method.

Machine-readable:/api/v1/additives/titanium-dioxide.json