Taste the brain damage - Skittles sued for high levels of titanium dioxide

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Skittles manufacturer Mars Inc. has been sued by a California woman who claims a colorant used in the candies is dangerous and puts people at risk of damage to their brains and DNA.

In a proposed class action filed on Thursday in the Oakland, California federal court, Jenile Thames accused Mars of endangering unsuspecting Skittles eaters by using 'heightened levels' of titanium dioxide, or TiO2, as a food additive.

The lawsuit highlighted how titanium dioxide will be banned in the European Union next month after a food safety regulator there deemed it unsafe because of 'genotoxicity,' or the ability to change DNA.

TiO2 - which is used as a colorant in Skittles - is also feared to have the ability to damage vital organs including the brain, if consumed in dangerous quantities.

The McLean, Virginia-based company, which is private, had pledged in February 2016 to remove artificial colors from its food products over the next five years.

But Thames' lawsuit alleges that was just a ruse to keep consumers happy, and that Mars Inc. continues to pump the chemical into its candies.

According to the lawsuit, titanium dioxide is used in paint, adhesives, plastics and roofing materials, and can cause DNA, brain and organ damage, and well as lesions in the liver and kidneys.

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