(NHI Nanoblog) As products featuring new, super-small particles keep coming to market, one of the more interesting markets is the food sector. There’s lots of potential for the newfangled materials, especially in packaging.
But broad questions about nanotechnology, which leverages the unique properties of the ultra-tiny, has the food industry playing possum. As crack investigative reporter Andrew Schneider outlines in this article, food companies are just plain nervous about talking nano.
These materials can make better batteries or lighter and stronger bike frames, as well as new medical instruments and medicines that can save lives. They’re increasingly common in consumer products from “mineral-based” sunscreens to stain-repellent paints.
Nanomaterials are believed to hold great promise for a wide variety of applications. Shrinking these substances can change their properties;scientists are struggling to figure out whether, how and why that shift can make them dangerous in the process.
Reporting for Food Safety News, Schneider visited the annual Institute of Food Technologists conference. He wandered through the expo hall asking about nanoparticles. He got little information in response — which is about the same response as the federal government’s when it comes to nano food and related products. (Click here to read some of Schneider’s earlier reporting on the topic.)
Some consumer advocates say they’re expecting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to issue some specific protocols about food fairly soon. That information would supplement other guidelines sent out last month by the agency, along with the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency.
While the wait continues, nanoparticles continue to be a hot topic in research on food packaging, from nano “bricks” to keep food fresher longer to “killer paper.”