The Evidence
1. Stainless steel releases nickel and chromium into food
This is the claim people find most surprising, so it's worth being precise. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry cooked tomato sauce in stainless steel and measured what ended up in the food.
After six hours of cooking, nickel concentrations in the sauce rose by up to 26-fold and chromium by up to 7-fold, depending on the grade of steel. Leaching was highest with new cookware and decreased over repeated use, stabilising after roughly the sixth cooking cycle — but it did not stop. Even at the tenth cycle, the researchers measured an average of 88 µg of nickel and 86 µg of chromium per 126 g serving.
Source: Kamerud KL, Hobbie KA, Anderson KA. Stainless Steel Leaches Nickel and Chromium into Foods during Cooking. J Agric Food Chem. 2013;61(39):9495–9501. Journal · Full text
What this does and doesn't mean: these amounts are generally within accepted dietary intake levels for people without a sensitivity. We're not telling you stainless steel is dangerous. We're telling you it isn't inert — and that matters more for some people than others.
2. Nickel is the most common contact allergen
A systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 20,000 patch-tested people from the general population found an overall contact allergy prevalence of 20.1%, with nickel the single most common allergen at 11.4%. Prevalence in the European adult population is estimated at roughly 8–19%, with a strong female predominance.
Sources: Alinaghi F, Bennike NH, Egeberg A, Thyssen JP, Johansen JD. Prevalence of contact allergy in the general population: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Contact Dermatitis. 2019. PubMed · Ahlström MG et al. Nickel allergy and allergic contact dermatitis: a clinical review. Contact Dermatitis. 2019. PubMed
3. Why titanium is used inside the human body
Titanium's corrosion resistance comes from a passive oxide film that forms spontaneously the moment the metal meets oxygen — typically only a few nanometres thick. That film acts as a barrier that dramatically slows the release of metal ions into whatever the surface touches. If it's scratched, it re-forms almost immediately in air, a property called repassivation.
This is precisely why titanium is the material of choice for dental and orthopaedic implants that stay in the body for decades. The same property is what makes it a stable cooking surface: acids, salts and citrus don't meaningfully react with it. Background reading: Titanium for orthopaedic applications (NIH) · Repassivation of titanium biomaterials (npj Materials Degradation)
4. The titanium dioxide (E171) question
In May 2021 the European Food Safety Authority concluded that titanium dioxide (E171) could no longer be considered safe as a food additive, because a concern for genotoxicity could not be ruled out and no safe daily intake could be established. The EU withdrew its authorisation in January 2022.
People understandably ask whether that affects titanium cookware. Here is the honest, precise answer rather than a marketing one:
E171 is a manufactured powder of titanium dioxide nanoparticles, eaten as an ingredient — added to sweets, sauces and tablets as a whitener. The concern is about ingesting those particles. A titanium pan is solid titanium metal, and the oxide on its surface is a bound, self-healing film a few nanometres thick that stays attached to the metal. It isn't an ingredient, it isn't a powder, and it isn't consumed. Those are different materials in different forms doing different things — which is why the E171 decision doesn't extend to titanium cookware, medical implants, or any other solid titanium product.
Sources: EFSA Panel on Food Additives. Safety assessment of titanium dioxide (E171) as a food additive. EFSA Journal. 2021;19(5):6585. EFSA Journal · Food Safety Authority of Ireland summary
We think a brand that cites research should also be clear about the limits of it.
• We don't claim TITÁN cookware treats, prevents or improves any medical condition. It's a pan.
• We don't claim stainless steel is unsafe. For most people the amounts involved are within accepted intake levels.
• We don't claim our cookware is non-stick. It's naturally low-stick with correct technique, and we'd rather teach the technique than overpromise.
• We don't claim titanium can't scratch. It's a bare metal and it earns marks with use — they're cosmetic, and you're still cooking on titanium.
Questions about any of this? We'll answer them properly.
This page presents material-science and food-safety research for general information. It is not medical advice and should not be treated as such. If you have a metal sensitivity, allergy or any other health concern, please speak to a qualified healthcare professional. Research summaries above are our plain-English reading of the cited sources; the sources themselves are linked so you can read them in full.