Food additives are very common in the standard American diet. They are added for the purpose of restoring nutrients, fortifying or enriching foods, and improving freshness, taste and even appearance. Hang Xiao, a professor and Clydesdale Scholar of Food Science, along with colleagues at UMass Amherst and in China published research that focused on a specific food additive that caused negative implications on mice. Titanium dioxide nanoparticles, or TiO2 NPs, comes from the food additive E171, which is used in desserts, candy, beverages, and gum to make them look whiter and more opaque. Xiao mentions that exposure is two to four times higher in US children than in adults, which was found in another study. In his study conducted, both the obese and non-obese mice that were fed a diet containing E171 and TiO2 NPS had a disturbance of gut microbiota. Researchers found a decrease of short-chain fatty acids in cecal levels and an increase of pro-inflammatory immune cells and cytokines in the colon, indicating an inflammatory state. Hang Xiao states, "I think our results have a lot of implications in the food industry and on human health and nutrition."
For more information, please visit: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/06/200625162252.htm
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