Toxic Skittles

The Lempert Report
August 02, 2022

Phil: And as we're talking about, you know, kids and we're talking about, you know, junk food, I'm sure everybody has now heard about the class action lawsuit that was filed. I think it was July 14th in California against Mars, Inc. They're stating that the candy maker back in 2016 had promised to remove titanium dioxide from their ingredients in Skittles. And they stated it publicly that it posed a significant health risk to unsuspecting consumers. Now here's the facts titanium dioxide is found in thousands of foods, everything from chewing gum to baked goods, to salad dressing, even in ice creams. It's also used in medication and sunscreens paint and plastics. But according to the FDA who approved it back for use in 1966, it is safe as long as it does not exceed 1% of the food's weight. Now in the past couple years, just over the past two years due to new research, it's been banned in France and then the EU with the exception of Britain for use and foods, scientists disagree about its toxicity. So it's not clear if it's safe or not. But according to the environmental working group, even if you try to avoid it and say, this is what scares me, it could be difficult as food companies are not required to include it and listing it in their ingredients. And in a lot of cases like on processed foods, it just states on the label color added. So the best bet to avoid it is to avoid foods that do not contain added coloring. Yep. It's another food crime. What do you think?

Sally: I found that absolutely disturbing. What, what you just pointed out about the fact that this ingredient, you know, may or may not be listed on packaging. And it makes me wonder about other things too, but, but the most important thing is that, you know, I read that Dr. Marion Nestle, who, you know, we have a great deal of respect for, she made a point about this particular topic that I thought was really fair that, you know, to the Mars company, if there is a chance that it's in there and it's that it's getting in and causing cancer, then why wouldn't you just take it out?

Phil: Yep. Yep. And even if it costs you more yes. Who cares?