Nanotechnology in Food Science: What You Need to Know

While the food industry has been using various sources of technology for decades to improve the appeal and shelf life of their products, nanotechnology in food is still a concept that’s in its infancy.

Whether you realize it or not, you may already consume foods and drinks that use this technology, such as certain beers, hamburgers and fruits. Some foods you regularly purchase might also come in “nonpackages” that help to reduce waste.

Is nanotechnology in foods beneficial, and more importantly, is it safe? Below we look at why nanomaterials are used in food and the pros and cons involved in this growing trend.

What Are Nanofoods?

The Nanoforum defines nanfoods as “those that are made with nanotechnology techniques or tools used during cultivation, production, processing, or packaging of the food.”

According to the company Azo Nano, “Nanotechnology in the food industry can take a number of forms. These include the use of nanotechnology in packaging materials, farming practices, food processing and also in the foods themselves. ”

The application of nanotechnology in food processing and preservation has benefits including reducing waste, extending shelf life of products and improving taste.

What Is Nanotechnology?

Nanotechnology in food is only one of many uses of nanotechnology.

Nanotechnology has been described as “the science of the very, very small. Measured in billionths of a meter, nanoparticles are similar in scale to viruses, proteins and antibodies,” as noted in an article published in The Guardian.

Because this branch of technology deals with tiny particles that are about as big as individual atoms and molecules, that means you basically can’t tell which types of foods, packages or products contain nanoparticles.

The “nanoscale” is about 1 to 100 nanometers. To put this into context, one sheet of newspaper is about 100,000 nanometers thick.

What is nanotechnology used for, and how does it work exactly? There are dozens of different uses and types of nanotechnology, spanning various fields, including chemistry, biology, physics, materials science and engineering.

The National Nanotechnology Initiative explains:

Today’s scientists and engineers are finding a wide variety of ways to deliberately make materials at the nanoscale to take advantage of their enhanced properties, such as higher strength, lighter weight, increased control of light spectrum, and greater chemical reactivity than their larger-scale counterparts.

What products use nanotechnology? As of now, most of the 1,000+ products that are being made with nanoparticles are not food themselves — they are packages, cookware and supplements. Some examples include:

•             cardboard containers (including for food)

•             plastic beer bottles made with nanocomposite materials

•             vitamin/mineral supplements

•             medications

•             some produce that is coated with a wax-like substance to prevent spoilage, such as apples, pears, peppers, cucumbers, and other fruit and vegetables

As reported by Food Safety News, other packaged foods contain “engineered particles,” including salad dressings/sauces, diet beverages, and boxed cake, muffin and pancakes mixes — however these are somewhat different than nanoparticles.

There’s also concern that nanoparticles may make their way into other foods, like meat, because they are fed to livestock in the form of antibiotics, plus used in fertilizers and pesticides.

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