This food ingredient is banned in Europe. Why does Health Canada allow it?

Friday, February 16, 2024 - By John Mazerolle

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

This food ingredient is banned in Europe. Why does Health Canada allow it?

Marketplace ordered snacks from Europe that are also sold in Canada to see how the additives differ. (David MacIntosh/CBC)

Some manufacturers are making snack foods for the Canadian market that contain titanium dioxide, an ingredient banned in Europe.

That additive, which is used to make food look more appealing, was banned in the European Union after a May 2021 European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) review couldn't rule out that it may cause DNA or chromosomal damage in humans.

"What we concluded was that we could not really exclude the possibility that titanium dioxide can damage the DNA material, the genetic material in the cells," Camilla Smeraldi, team leader for EFSA's food additive and flavourings team, told CBC's Marketplace. "It's not something that we should intentionally add to foods."

Marketplace looked at Skittles Fruits, Nerds Fruits, Nerds Gummy Clusters Rainbow and chocolate M&Ms. There is no titanium dioxide in the versions ordered from Europe, but the additive is in the snacks sold to Canadians.

Health Canada published a review of titanium dioxide studies in June 2022, which found there is no conclusive scientific evidence that the food additive is a concern for human health. "Health Canada's report on titanium dioxide as a food additive placed the greatest emphasis on the studies it considered to be the most reliable and relevant," a spokesperson for the department told Marketplace in an emailed statement, adding that could change if new scientific evidence finds the additive is not safe.

A consumer health watchdog says food manufacturers should proactively offer the titanium dioxide-free versions to everyone, no matter where they live. "Food companies do not need to wait for regulations," said Thomas Galligan, a scientist who studies food additives for the Washington-based Center for Science in the Public Interest. "I'd like them to make the choice to reformulate their products, to get rid of titanium dioxide … for the good of public health," he said.

Marketplace asked the manufacturers why they don't sell titanium dioxide-free versions of these snacks in Canada like they do in Europe.

Mars Wrigley, the company that makes Skittles and M&Ms, said all of its products "are safe and manufactured in compliance with strict quality and safety requirements established by food safety regulators." The maker of the two Nerds products, Ferrara Candy Company, said it complies "with all laws and regulations related to our products and will continue to do so in the future," and use ingredients that "are safe to consume."

More on this issue

Read the full story here.

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The Prince of Slides

(Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Prince Harry hits the wall as he slides down the track on a skeleton sled during an Invictus Games training camp in Whistler, B.C., yesterday. The Invictus Games take place in Vancouver and Whistler next year. Harry founded the Games for wounded, injured or sick service personnel and veterans after he served in Afghanistan. Read about his 99 km/h ride here.

In brief

Quebec's College of Physicians says it will keep tabs on doctors who heavily prescribe benzodiazepines, or "benzos," such as Valium, Xanax and Ativan. RAMQ, which administers the public health insurance program in Quebec, will flag doctors who prescribe them and the college will follow up with individual doctors to ensure they are aware of the dangers the drugs pose. "These medications are intended for short-term use for insomnia or anxiety," said Camille Gagnon, associate director of the Canadian Network for Appropriate Medication Use and Deprescription. "What we're concerned about is that most people do not use them for short term, in fact they use them for months or years." Gagnon said about one in 10 people in Canada have a prescription for benzodiazepines. Twelve people who spoke to Radio-Canada's Enquête said they were prescribed the drugs by a doctor, but most said they were not warned about side effects, including life-altering withdrawal symptoms. In other provinces, medical associations are ahead of Quebec and already impose clear limits on benzodiazepine prescriptions. Alberta limits initial prescriptions to seven doses and Nova Scotia, where benzodiazepine use is highest in Canada, limits dosage to two to four weeks. Read more about benzos here.

Air Canada has attempted to distance itself from its own chatbot's bad advice, claiming the online tool was "a separate legal entity that is responsible for its own actions." In a decision released this week, a small claims adjudicator in B.C. ordered Air Canada to pay Jake Moffatt $812 to cover the difference between the airline's bereavement rates and the $1,630.36 they paid for full-price tickets to and from Toronto bought after their grandmother died, based on incorrect advice from a chatbot. The airline's attempt to pin the mistake on the bot seemed to flabbergast Civil Resolution Tribunal member Christopher Rivers. "This is a remarkable submission," he wrote. "While a chatbot has an interactive component, it is still just a part of Air Canada's website. It should be obvious to Air Canada that it is responsible for all the information on its website. It makes no difference whether the information comes from a static page or a chatbot." A survey of the Canadian Legal Information Institute — which maintains a database of Canadian legal decisions — shows a paucity of cases featuring bad advice from chatbots; Moffatt's appears to be the first. Read more about the decision here.

A federal program that has kept hundreds of journalists employed in Canada is about to expire. The Local Journalism Initiative (LJI), created by the Canadian Heritage ministry in 2019, doled out $50 million over five years. News organizations could apply and receive money to hire journalists or pay freelance journalists to report on underserved communities and issues. But LJI funding is scheduled to end on March 31, and there are no answers on whether it will be renewed. "In total, there are over 400 LJI reporters across Canada at nearly 300 media outlets serving some 1,400 local communities," said Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada, which is one of six groups that administer LJI funding. "Frankly, there are no other current federal funding initiatives that can replace it. It is a world-class program that other countries are looking at." The federal government isn't ready to tip its hand about the program's future. "We cannot today announce anything," a spokesperson for the federal heritage ministry told CBC in a statement. Read more about the expiring program here.

Jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny is dead, the prison service in the region where he had been serving his sentence said on Friday. He was 47. Navalny rose to prominence with detailed reports about corruption among top Russian officials, which he popularized on social media to circumvent state control of television. He survived what his supporters said was a poisoning attempt in 2020 and was sentenced to the first of a series of lengthy prison sentences for a variety of offences, including corruption. This is a breaking news story. Read more about Navalny throughout the day here.

The White House publicly confirmed yesterday that Russia has obtained the capability to produce an anti-satellite weapon but said it can't cause physical destruction on Earth and isn't currently operational. U.S. officials are analyzing the information they have on the emerging technology and have consulted with allies and partners on the matter, including Canada. "Though Russia's pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone's safety," said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. "We're not talking about a weapon that can be used to used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth.'' Such a weapon would violate an international space treaty, to which more than 130 countries have signed onto, including Russia. In Moscow, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said claims about a new Russian military capability were a ruse intended to make the U.S. Congress support aid for Ukraine. Read more about the weapon here.

Now here's some good news to start your Friday: The Canadian men's sprint team has set a world record in a photo finish win at the speed skating championships in Calgary. The trio of Anders Johnson, Laurent Dubreuil, and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu won at the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships in Calgary in 1:17.173, edging out their Dutch counterparts by a mere 0.002. "A world record and a world championship, it feels absolutely amazing!" Gélinas-Beaulieu said in a statement. "We know that the three of us work well together, not only individually with our roles in the race, but also as a team." The women's sprint team are champions, too, earning gold medals in consecutive years. The trio of Carolina Hiller, Maddison Pearman and Blondin finished with a time of 1:25.14 in the event, beating the second-place U.S. You can watch live coverage of the world championships on CBCSports.ca.

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Today in history: Feb. 16

1949: The House of Commons passes the Newfoundland Union Act by a vote of 140-47. Newfoundland officially joined Canada on March 31, 1949.

1971: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau mouths an expression in the House of Commons he later described as "fuddle-duddle."

2005: NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announces the cancellation of the 2004-2005 hockey season on the 154th day of a lockout. It was the first time a major sports league had lost an entire season and playoffs to labour trouble.

2022: Charles Hamelin becomes Canada's most decorated male Winter Olympian after the short-track speedskating team won the gold medal in the men's 5,000-metre relay. It was Hamelin's sixth career medal — tying him with Cindy Klassen.

(With files from CBC News, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press and Reuters)