10/05/2026
Yes, this is real. In June 2026 Consumer Reports teamed up with the food-scanning app Yuka and lab tested 40 popular US snacks and packaged foods for additives. One in four had more of an additive in a single serving than the daily amount some public health agencies in the US or Europe have identified as safe.
The biggest number in the whole test: Hostess Donettes Powdered Mini Donuts had 261 milligrams of titanium dioxide in one serving. That was more than 760 times the amount found in the other three products that contained it, combined.
Titanium dioxide is a white pigment. It's the same stuff used in paint and sunscreen, and in food it makes powdered donuts, candy, gum and frosting look bright white.
In 2021 the European Food Safety Authority said titanium dioxide "can no longer be considered safe" as a food additive, because its tiny particles can build up in the body and the agency could not rule out damage to DNA. The European Union banned it as a food additive in 2022.
To be fair: titanium dioxide is legal in US food. The FDA allows it at up to 1 percent of a food's weight, and has said the safety studies it reviewed do not show a safety concern. Health Canada reviewed it in 2022 and found no conclusive evidence that it is a health concern in food. A petition to remove it has been under review at the FDA since 2023.
Consumer Reports also says there is no reason to panic if you have eaten these foods, and that its test results are not a legal judgment. Hostess's parent company, J.M. Smucker, did not respond to Consumer Reports' requests for comment. A food industry group, the Consumer Brands Association, called the report misleading and said America has one of the safest food systems in the world.
Same test, other findings: one serving of Jell-O Zero Sugar Chocolate Fudge instant pudding had nearly 9 times the daily Red 40 level that California health officials identified for children. Kraft Heinz, which makes Jell-O, said a safety concern is not supported by the evidence, and that it plans to remove Red 40 from its US products by the end of 2027. Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies had over 9 times California's cancer risk level for glycidyl esters, a contaminant from processed oils.
Consumer Reports bought the foods over a two-month period starting in November 2025, and says levels on shelves today may differ.
Read the ingredient list. If it says titanium dioxide, that's the one Europe took off the shelves.
Sources: Consumer Reports and Yuka, "These Popular Snacks Contain High Levels of Additives and Contaminants," June 9, 2026; EFSA opinion on E171, May 6, 2021; Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/63; FDA, "Titanium Dioxide as a Color Additive in Foods"; Health Canada, "Titanium dioxide (TiO2) as a food additive: Current science report," 2022.
