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Scientists can’t prove titanium dioxide is dangerous and they can’t prove it’s safe — but this common food whitener is almost impossible to avoid, and manufacturers aren’t required to list it as an ingredient.

Titanium dioxide is behind the sheen on sweets and the bleach-white colour of toothpastes and chewing gums, but new research shows it may also be behind colorectal cancer, colitis and other stomach problems.

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“If there was a reason for using the titanium dioxide in food, I would say ‘OK, let’s consider it,’ but what is the reason? It’s purely esthetic,” says Wojciech Chrzanowski, an associate professor who helped lead the new study from the University of Sydney.

The food whitener is approved for use in Canada, where it only needs to be listed as “colour” on the ingredients label, according to a written statement from Health Canada.

Chrzanowski says policies like these are concerning — especially after the effects found in his team’s study — because people don’t know how much titanium dioxide is in their food.