Ban on food products containing E171 from July 22

Ban on food products containing E171 from July 22

Muscat – Oman is going to ban the production, import, and marketing of food products that contain titanium dioxide (E171) from July 22, 2023.

The Food Safety and Quality Center on Monday announced the effective date for the ban, besides informing that the penalty for violating this decision is RO1,000, which will be doubled in the event of a repeat offence.

In January, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources issued a ministerial decision (No 11/2023) amending some provisions of the Food Safety Regulations. It was decided to add a new item in the appendix of violations and administrative fines related to food safety.

The first article of the decision stipulates that an administrative fine of OR1,000 will be imposed on the production, import or marketing of food products to which titanium dioxide (E171) is added.

The second article says that this decision shall take effect six months after the date of publication.

Titanium dioxide is used as a food colour (E171) and, as with all food colours, its technological function is to make food more visually appealing, to give colour to food that would otherwise be colourless, or to restore the original appearance of food. Titanium dioxide is also present in cosmetics, paints,