{"id":54046,"date":"2022-07-18T12:14:31","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T16:14:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=54046"},"modified":"2022-07-18T12:14:50","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T16:14:50","slug":"a-lawsuit-claims-skittles-are-unfit-for-human-consumption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2022\/07\/a-lawsuit-claims-skittles-are-unfit-for-human-consumption\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lawsuit claims \u2026 Skittles are \u201cUnfit for Human Consumption\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mars, Incorporated is being sued by a consumer who claims that Skittles \u201care unfit for human consumption.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Consumer Jenile Thames filed the lawsuit in Oakland, California, claiming in court documents obtained by NBC News that the candy contains \u201cheightened levels\u201d of titanium dioxide (TiO2), according to NBC News affiliate WMAQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement to TODAY, a Mars, INC, spokesperson said, \u201cwhile we do not comment on pending litigation, our use of titanium dioxide complies with FDA regulations<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company \u201chas long known of the health problems posed\u201d by TiO2, the lawsuit claims. In February 2016, the company \u201ccommitted to phasing out\u201d the TiO2 in its product but has yet failed to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2019, the toxin was banned from France, and the company announced it would comply with the country\u2019s law, the lawsuit notes. Last May, the European Food Safety Authority determined that TiO2 \u201ccould not be considered safe for consumption,\u201d prompting the European Commission\u2019s announcement that it would \u201cadopt a ban on the use of TiO2 as a food additive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company continues to use TiO2 in the product and has failed \u201cto inform consumers of the implications of consuming the toxin\u201d in the U.S., per the lawsuit reported by WMAQ<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The document claims consumers \u201care at heightened risk of a host of health effects for which they were unaware stemming from genotoxicity \u2014 the ability of a chemical substance to change DNA.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

TiO2 is used in paints, coatings, adhesives, plastics, printing inks, and roofing materials, and it \u201chas demonstrated an ability to pass through biological membranes, circulate through the body and enter cells,\u201d the lawsuit claims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thames would not have purchased the Skittles if he had known it contained TiO2. He claims the ingredients on the candy are difficult to read due to the contrast in color between the font and packaging. He seeks unspecified damages for fraud and violations of California consumer protection laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mars, Incorporated is being sued by a consumer who claims that Skittles \u201care unfit for human consumption.\u201d Consumer Jenile Thames filed the lawsuit in Oakland, California, claiming in court documents… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":54047,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[1446],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54046"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54046"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54048,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54046\/revisions\/54048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}