A Californian claims Skittles have titanium dioxide making the candy “unfit for human consumption,” on August 11, 2022 at an Illinois federal court. Titanium dioxide is the white stuff in the middle of the Skittles. The chemical is used in many products such as sunscreen, cosmetics, plastics, toothpaste, and paint. Overall titanium dioxide is used in these products to turn them whiter.

The chemical is banned in many parts of Europe because it is addictive and eventually builds up in your body. Tom Neltner, a chemical engineer says, “whenever you have accumulation to something in so many foods, you can get to really harmful levels that raise concerns.” Neltner also understands over 10,000 chemicals are allowed to be inside and in contact with foods we eat every day. 

Skittle ingredients consist of sugar, corn syrup, hydrogenated palm kernel oil, less than 2% of citric acid, tapioca dextrin, modified corn starch natural and artificial flavors, colors (titanium dioxide, red 40 lakes, yellow 5 lakes, yellow 6 lakes, blue 2 lakes, blue 1, blue 1 lake, yellow 5, yellow 6, red 40), sodium citrate, and carnauba wax. 

Many people do not recognize most of these ingredients because they are not what brands would try to highlight or make obvious that their item contains this stuff. If you are a candy eater then try to understand just to grasp the idea of how many of these ingredients you know of and understand what these unknown chemicals are doing to your body and overall well-being.

But don’t think that you should just avoid Skittles because Nerds, Starbursts, Trollies and more, also have some not-so-healthy chemicals.