A customer has filed a lawsuit against Mars, Incorporated, claiming that Skittles “are unfit for human consumption” and that the company should be held liable.
Consumer Jenile Thames filed the case on Thursday in Oakland, California, saying that the candy has “heightened amounts” of titanium dioxide, according to court documents acquired by NBC News (TiO2).
A spokesman for Mars, Inc. issued the following response to TODAY: “While we do not comment on ongoing litigation, our use of titanium dioxide complies with FDA standards.”
According to the lawsuit, the corporation “has long known of the health hazards posed” by TiO2, which can be found in the product.
It adds that the firm “committed to phase out” the TiO2 in its product in February of 2016, however, as of yet, they have not been successful.
The complaint makes notice that the poison was declared illegal in France in 2019 and that the defendant corporation declared that it would comply with the legislation of that nation.
In May this past year, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that TiO2 “could not be regarded safe for ingestion.” As a result of this finding, the European Commission announced that it would “implement a ban on the use of TiO2 as a food additive.”
According to the lawsuit, the corporation in question continues to utilise TiO2 in the product in the United States, even though it has “failed to advise consumers of the risks of swallowing the poison.”
According to the letter, customers “are at a heightened risk of a myriad of health problems for which they were unaware arising from genotoxicity,” defined as the capacity of a chemical substance to modify DNA.
The lawsuit asserts that titanium dioxide (TiO2) is utilised in a variety of products, including paints, coatings, adhesives, plastics, printing inks, and roofing materials, and that it “has demonstrated an ability to pass through biological membranes, circulate throughout the body, and enter cells.”
According to the allegations made in the lawsuit, Thames would not have bought the Skittles if he had been aware that they included TiO2.
He claims that because of the contrast in colour between the typeface and the packaging, it is difficult to read the contents listed on the candy.
Thames is seeking unspecified damages for alleged fraud and infringement of consumer protection laws in the state of California.