Blue California (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA) launches clean-label, food-grade whitening agents as a replacement for titanium dioxide white colorant for use in products such as gum, candy, cakes, chocolates, coffee creamers, and cake decorations . Titanium dioxide is recently deemed unsafe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), although it is FDA GRAS at a maximum weight of 1%.
“Brands looking to replace titanium dioxide white colorant will find many benefits in Blue California’s patent-pending food-grade bleaching agents,” Cuie Yan, PhD, vice president of encapsulation, said in a press release. “Our alternative to titanium dioxide is changing the industry with opacifying or whitening effects and excellent sensory benefits with a delicious creamy / rich mouthfeel and contains proprietary ingredients that may have additional benefits, such as supporting cognitive health.”
Yan says the agents are heat and pH stable for a variety of applications. They are also similar in size in diameter to traditional titanium dioxide with higher (whiter) L values. According to Blue California, whitening agents have been tested in chewing gum. Compared to titanium dioxide, the whitening effect was similar, increasing as the dose increased.
