ZnSO4 + BaS + ZnS + BaSO4

As of August 7, the use of titanium dioxide in food is banned in the European Union. Europe is taking a precautionary principle approach based on findings from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

While this ruling from the EU General Court doesn’t immediately change the regulations surrounding titanium dioxide, nor does it change the ban that went into place in 2022, it does put the ingredient back in the spotlight.
 
In the coming months, we will see how the ruling impacts the regulations around titanium dioxide (E171), and we’ll see if the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) will take another look at the body of scientific evidence used to justify the current ban on E171 in foods and pharmaceuticals.

Still many experts say the body of research does not support the current health concerns being expressed about titanium dioxide.

Having thus described the origin and uses of the pigment, we now come to the question, what is lithopone? It is, in short, a chemical compound usually consisting of 30.5 per cent zinc sulphide, 1.5 per cent zinc oxide and 68 per cent barium sulphate, but these proportions vary slightly in the different makes. Lithopone of this composition is sold as the highest grade, either as red seal or green seal, as it best suits the idea of the manufacturer. Many manufacturers, especially in Europe, sell and also export other brands under other seals, containing 24, 20, 18 and as little as 12 per cent of zinc sulphide with very small percentages of zinc oxide, the balance being usually barium sulphate, but sometimes certain portions of China clay or gypsum (calcium sulphate) or whiting (calcium carbonate). Such brands are not a chemical compound, but mechanical mixtures of the chemically compounded lithopone and the admixtures referred to.