It’s in gum, bread, toothpaste, and even in chocolate and other treats. Titanium dioxide is a common additive in food staples, but new research suggests the ingredient could explain why you have an upset stomach.
Scientists out of Binghamton University in New York State say that “chronic exposure” to titanium oxide could be weakening your intestinal walls, causing discomfort, inflammation and even trouble with absorbing nutrients.
“Titanium oxide is a common food additive and people have been eating a lot of it for a long time – don’t worry, it won’t kill you – but we were interested in some of the subtle effects, and we think people should know about them,” Dr. Gretchen Mahler, the study’s lead author, said in a university statement.
“To avoid foods rich in titanium oxide nanoparticles you should avoid processed foods, and especially candy. That is where you see a lot of nanoparticles,” Mahler said.
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In Mahler’s study, she exposed cells from a small intestine to a meal’s worth of titanium oxide nanoparticles in two tests to see how the stomach lining reacted to the food additive. One test was for about four hours to mark acute exposure while three meal’s worth of exposure was for about five days to indicate chronic exposure.
Turns out, short bursts of exposure didn’t really hurt the intestinal cells, but chronic exposure did. It “diminished” the surface of the intestinal cells called microvilli.
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With that damage, the intestinal barrier was weakened, metabolism slowed, and nutrients from iron, zinc and fatty acids, weren’t getting absorbed. Enzymes were also thrown off balance and inflammation flared up.
Titanium dioxide is considered safe, according to Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It’s ubiquitous and hard to avoid too, the study notes: it’s used in paint, paper and plastics, but it’s also worked into products like toothpaste.
Oxide is in chocolate to give it a smooth texture, in donuts for colour, and in skimmed milk for a brighter, opaque look, too.
A 2012 study even found titanium dioxide in Twinkies, gum and mayonnaise.
The study’s full findings were published in the journal NanoImpact.
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It isn’t the first time scientists zeroed in on the health risks tied to food additives. Last year, researchers pointed to emulsifiers, added to plenty of processed foods to keep products fresh and smooth.
In that case, American researchers said that emulsifiers could be tampering with the bacteria in our gut, opening the door to developing diseases, such as Crohn’s disease and colitis, which is an inflammation in the inner lining of the colon.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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