Dr. Qasim Chaudhry Dr. Chaudhry is a Principal Research Scientist at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) of the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He is also a member of the European Commission’s Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety (SCCS), and a Visiting Professor at the University of Chester. Dr. Chaudhry is a Chemist and Biochemical Toxicologist by training. He currently leads a team of scientists at Fera who are undertaking research into the safety of nanomaterials to human health and the environment in a variety of products and applications, including food and food packaging. Dr. Chaudhry has published a number of research papers, review articles, and study reports on a range of safety and regulatory aspects of nanotechnologies. Dr. Laurence Castle Dr. Castle is a Principal Scientist in the Contaminants and Authenticity group at Fera. He and his co-workers have published more than 150 refereed journal papers dealing with chemical analysis of food additives and contaminants. Dr. Castle is an independent member of the CEF panel (contact materials, enzymes and flavourings) of the European Food Safety Authority and he was a member of the predecessor panel and working groups since 1996. He also has extensive experience working in other national and international risk assessment and standardisation groups including JECFA, WHO, DG-SANCO, CEN. CoE etc. Dr. Richard Watkins Dr. Watkins is Head of Environmental Risk Programme at the Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera). He leads a number of scientific teams that provide research and consultancy in risk management systems to assess and mitigate against the risks posed by conventional and emergent environmental contaminants (including nanomaterials). Dr. Watkins is author for over 40 peer-reviewed articles including two recent book chapters on food contaminants and the regulation for nanomaterials.

Nanotechnologies in Food

By Qasim Chaudhry, Laurence Castle, Richard Watkins

The Royal Society of Chemistry

Copyright © 2010 Royal Society of Chemistry
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-85404-169-5

Contents

Chapter 1 Nanotechnologies in the Food Arena: New Opportunities, New Questions, New Concerns Qasim Chaudhry Richard Watkins and Laurence Castle, 1,
Chapter 2 The Evolution of Food Technology, Novel Foods, and the Psychology of Novel Food ‘Acceptance’ Lynn Frewer and Arnout Fischer, 18,
Chapter 3 Public Perceptions of Nanotechnologies: Lessons from GM Foods David Bennet, 36,
Chapter 4 Natural Food Nanostructures Victor J. Morris, 50,
Chapter 5 Nanotechnology Applications for Food Ingredients, Additives and Supplements Qasim Chaudhry and Kathy Groves, 69,
Chapter 6 Nanotechnologies in Food Packaging Maria Smolander and Qasim Chaudhry, 86,
Chapter 7 Potential Benefits and Market Drivers for Nanotechnology Applications in the Food Sector Frans W. H. Kampers, 102,
Chapter 8 Engineered Nanoparticles and Food: An Assessment of Exposure and Hazard Lang Tran and Qasim Chaudhry, 120,
Chapter 9 Potential Risks of Nanofood to Consumers Hans Bouwmeester and Hans J. P. Marvin, 134,
Chapter 10 Small Ingredients in a Big Picture: Regulatory Perspectives on Nanotechnologies in Foods and Food Contact Materials Anna Gergely, Diana Bowman and Qasim Chaudhry, 150,
Chapter 11 An Outline Framework for the Governance for Risks of Nanotechnologies in Food Martin Möller, Ulrike Eberle, Andreas Hermann and Claudia Som, 182,
Chapter 12 Knowns, Unknowns, and Unknown Unknowns Qasim Chaudhry, Richard Watkins and Laurence Castle, 201,
Subject Index, 218,

CHAPTER 1

Nanotechnologies in the Food Arena: New Opportunities, New Questions, New Concerns

QASIM CHAUDHRY, RICHARD WATKINS AND LAURENCE CASTLE

The Food and Environment Research Agency, Sand Hutton, York YO41 1LZ, UK

1.1 Background

It has been suggested for sometime that materials and substances may be manipulated at the very small size scale through atom-by-atom assembly. The advent of nanotechnology in recent years has provided a systematic way for the study and ‘fine-tuning’ of material properties in the nanometer size range. Nanotechnology is a broad term used to represent an assemblage of processes, materials and applications that span physical, chemical, biological and electronic science and engineering fields. The common theme amongst them is that they all involve manipulation of materials at a size range in the nanometer scale. One nanometer (nm) is one-billionth of a meter. A nanomaterial has been defined as a ‘material having one or more external dimensions in the nanoscale or which is nanostructured’, where the nanoscale size range is approximately 1–100 nm (Figure 1.1). Materials with all three external dimensions in the nanoscale are classed as nanoparticles. Nanomaterials also exist in other forms, such as nanorods or nanotubes with two dimensions in the nanoscale, or nanolayers, coatings or sheets with just one dimension in the nanoscale.

Of particular interest to most nanotechnology applications are engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) that are manufactured specifically to achieve a certain material property or composition. Although ENPs are produced in free particulate forms, they tend to stick together to form larger agglomerates due to enormous surface free energies. In final applications, ENPs may be in fixed, bound or embedded forms in different matrices, such as food packaging plastics. Other applications, such as certain cosmetics, personal care products and functional foods may contain free ENPs. The chemical nature of substances used to manufacture ENPs can be inorganic (e.g. metals and metal oxides) or organic (e.g. food additives and cosmetics ingredients). Some nanomaterials are also obtainable from natural sources, most notably montmorillonite (also known as bentonite) that are nanoclays commonly obtained from volcanic ash/ rocks. To help visualise nanomaterials in context, organic life is carbon based, and the C–C bond length is about 0.15nm. So placed in a food context, most ENPs are bigger than molecules such as lipids, are a similar size to many proteins, but are smaller than the intact cells in plant- and animal-based foods (Figure 1.2).

The fundamental driver at the heart of most nanotechnology applications is the promise for improved or new functionalities of materials, and a possible reduction in the use of (chemical) substances. On an equivalent weight basis, ENPs have much larger surface to mass ratios (also known as the aspect ratio) due to their very small sizes compared to the conventional bulk forms. Thus, a relatively small amount of an ENP may provide a level of functionality that would otherwise require a much greater amount of the conventional material. The notion ‘a little goes a long way’ is probably the single most powerful reasoning behind many of the nanotechnology applications in different sectors. The very small size of ENPs can also offer other benefits. For example, nano-sizing of water-insoluble substances can enable their uniform dispersion in aqueous formulations. This makes it possible to reduce the use of solvents in certain applications such as cosmetics, paints and coatings, and allows the dispersion of food additives such as water-insoluble colours, flavours and preservatives in low-fat systems. Nano-sized nutrients and supplements have also been claimed to have a greater uptake, absorption and bioavailability in the body compared to bulk equivalents. This aspect alone has attracted a lot of commercial interest in the use of nano-sized ingredients, supplements and nutraceuticals in (health)food applications.

The current applications of nanotechnology span a wide range of sectors, predominantly cosmetics and personal-care, health-care, paints and coatings and electronics. As in these sectors, nanotechnology is also promising to revolutionise the food industry – from food production, processing, packaging, transportation and storage to the development of new food tastes and textures and innovative food packaging applications. Nanotechnology has also emerged as one of the major converging technologies, offering the potential for further new developments through integration with other sciences and technological disciplines. Already there are examples where integration of nanotechnology with biotechnology and information technology is enabling the development of miniaturised devices, such as nanobiosensors. The use of the latter to detect pathogens and contaminants during food processing, transportation and storage is expected to enhance safety and security of food products. In view of the new technological developments, it is not surprising that the food industry is amongst the main sectors eagerly seeking ways to realise the potential benefits offered by nanotechnology.

This book is aimed at providing an impartial view of the potential prospects, benefits and risks that nanotechnology can bring to the food sector and its customers, and it also aims to discuss some of the main questions and concerns that the new technological developments have started to raise. In turn, this first chapter sets the scene for the subsequent chapters on individual application areas that are written by acknowledged experts in their respective fields.

1.2 Evolution of New Technologies in the Food Sector

The main driver that has shaped our present-day food industry is the basic human need for a sustained supply of safe, nutritious, affordable and enjoyable food throughout the year. Our food has gone through a long history of transformations over the centuries, from hunting and gathering to highly mechanised farming and technologically advanced processing and preservation methods. Agricultural food production during early human settlements is known to have started off with little knowledge, elementary tools and at the mercy of climate, pests and pathogens. The knowledge gained over generations enabled different civilisations to live off the land, and paved the way for systematic farming and animal breeding. The basic food production methods, however, then seem to have remained more or less unchanged over many centuries. By the early 1900s, agriculture was still run as a family-controlled or community-owned affair in most countries. The norms of food production, transportation and trade, however, started to transform in the 20th century with the introduction of mechanised farming, high-yielding crop varieties and, later on, with the availability of synthetic fertilisers, pesticides and other agrochemicals (antibiotics, hormones). The so-called ‘green revolution’ of the mid-20th century succeeded in substantially increasing the global food production. As the production of food reached industrial scales, new ways were found to transport, store and preserve foodstuffs. This laid the foundations of the modern-day food industry. The advancement in DNA technology in the past few decades has led to further advances in our understanding of the fundamental biological principles and genetic mechanisms, and enabled a big leap from protracted conventional breeding methods to faster knowledge-based improvements of crops and farm animals.

The history of food processing is also as old as that of food production. Throughout the centuries, foodstuffs have been processed and treated in various ways, and blended with different ingredients and additives to kill off pests and pathogens, to enhance nutritional value, taste, flavour and texture, and to keep and store foodstuffs for longer periods. In that respect, many of the processes used by the modern-day food industry, e.g. heat-treatment, fermentation, acid-hydrolysis, kilning, curing, smoking, drying etc, are not new to the consumer. However, the current consumer-driven food industry has to constantly look for innovative and novel products that not only offer new tastes, textures and flavours but are also wholesome, nutritious and value for money. The food sector now has a multitude of sub-sectors and branches that span from farm to fork. The global food retail market alone has been estimated to be worth between 3 and 4 trillion US$. 3With globalisation of trade and industry worldwide, the rigid national boundaries that once existed in relation to food production and consumption have also become gradually obscure, and the supply and demand are now largely determined by global market forces. In this context, the introduction of nanotechnology is likely to make new waves in the already very competitive and technologically advanced food industry. These aspects are discussed in more detail in Chapters 2 and 7.

1.3 Public Perception of Nanotechnology Food Products

Before being successfully established, any new technology has to cross a number of technological, societal and regulatory barriers. This is especially true when the technology relates to such a sensitive area as food. The new nanotechnology-derived materials and applications for the food sector are not likely to face any lesser a challenge in this respect. Despite the infancy of nanotechnology applications for food, there are already demands for demonstrations that the new technological developments will have some real benefits for the consumer and not for the industry alone, and that the promised benefits will outweigh any risks to the consumer and/or the environment.

Like any new technology, public confidence, trust, and ultimately acceptance will be the key determinants for the success or failure of nanotechnology applications for food. Nanotechnology-derived food products will also be new to consumers, and it remains to be seen how they will be viewed by the general public. It is, nevertheless, obvious that uncertainties and lack of knowledge in regard to any new technology, or a lack of clear communication of the risks and benefits, can raise concerns amongst the public. In the present era of heightened consumer awareness, nanotechnology applications in the food sector seem to have already opened up a new debate amongst the stakeholders. There are, variously, calls ranging from a moratorium to an outright ban on the use of nanotechnologies for food. A recent report on the survey by the German Federal Institute of Risk Assessment has shown that the current consumer opinion in the EU, whilst conducive to many nanotechnology applications, is not entirely favourable in regard to its use in food. This bears some resonance with similar issues of food irradiation and of genetically modified (GM) crops in the past, where a lack of clear demonstration of consumer safety and benefits resulted in a negative public response in many countries.

Public perception of a new technology is, however, influenced by an array of complex factors. In developed countries, where food is currently plentiful and affordable, there is a degree of public scepticism towards the food products that are (or perceived to be) unduly over-processed, or that lack wholesomeness, freshness or ‘naturalness’. It also appears that even though food production is becoming increasingly globalised, public perceptions and priorities on food quality and safety do have more of a national characteristic, based partly on economic and cultural reasons. Thus, even within a single trading block, such as Europe, consumer priorities differ from country to country, some placing pesticides, for example, at the top of the agenda, some animal welfare, whilst others consider genetically modified organisms most worrying, etc. A similar heterogeneity in the perception and acceptance of nanotechnology is likely. Indeed, the public opinion in Europe seems to contrast with that in the USA. A survey carried out in 2008 for the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars has shown that, whilst a large majority of Americans has little or no knowledge of nanotechnology, the respondents expressed positive expectations when told about the potential benefits and risks of the technology. The consumer perception of nanofood in less well-off parts of the world may also be different from that in the developed world. (The recently coined term ‘nanofood’ refers to the use of nanotechnology techniques, materials or tools for production, processing or packaging of food.)

In this regard, it is logical to think that some applications will be seen per se as less acceptable than others. These aspects have been discussed in detail in Chapters 2 and 3, and analogies have been drawn from experiences with other technologies introduced into the food sector in the past.

1.4 Natural Nanostructures in Food

Whilst nanotechnologies offer exciting opportunities for the development of new tastes and textures through the development of nanostructures, emulsions and micelles in foodstuffs, it is known that our food already contains certain natural nanostructures. The three basic food constituents are proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Many food proteins and carbohydrate starches exist naturally in the nanoscale and simple triglyceride lipids are about 2 nm long. Food substances are also metabolised in the body at a nanoscale. Although proteins, carbohydrates and lipids are each digested in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) in a different way, a common factor is that they are all broken down to nanostructures before assimilation. It has, therefore, been argued that our body is already used to dealing with nanostructures in the GIT, and that foods processed at the nanoscale would simply be more readily digestible, absorbed and bioavailable in the body. However, it remains to be seen whether nanoscale processing of food materials might produce structures that are different from those that occur naturally. These aspects are discussed in more detail in Chapter 4.

1.5 Potential Benefits and Market Drivers

Like any other sector, the food industry is also driven by innovations, competitiveness and profitability. The industry is, therefore, always seeking new technologies to offer products with improved tastes, flavours, textures, longer shelf-life, better safety and traceability. Other pressures, such as increased health consciousness amongst consumers and tighter regulatory controls, have also driven the industry to look for new ways to reduce the amount of salt, sugar, fat, artificial colours and preservatives in their products, and to address certain food-related ailments, such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, digestive disorders, certain types of cancer (e.g. bowel cancer) and food allergies. The needs for food packaging have also changed with time, to stronger but lightweight, recyclable and functional packaging materials. Food labels are now expected to provide much more than a mere list of ingredients and cooking instructions, and ‘Smart’ labels are finding an increasing use in monitoring food quality, safety and security during transportation and storage. Other ‘newer’ societal and technological pressures are affecting the food industry, such as the need to control pathogens and certain toxins in food, to reduce the amount of packaging, food waste and carbon footprint in the life cycle of food products. In this context, the advent of nanotechnology has raised new hopes that it can address many of the industry’s needs (Figure 1.3). These aspects are discussed in more detail in Chapters 5, 6 and 7.

A number of recent reports and reviews have identified the current and short-term projected applications of nanotechnology for the food sector. Although such applications are relatively new and emergent, they appear to have started to make a global impact. A current niche for such applications is in the areas where there is an overlap between the food, medicines and cosmetics sectors. Many food products are marketed as a means to enhance nutrition for different lifestyles and age groups, and as an aid to health, beauty and wellbeing. This has resulted in certain hybrid sub-sectors that include nutritional supplements, health foods, nutraceuticals, cosmeceuticals and nutricosmetics. These hybrid sectors have so far been the first focus of nanotechnology applications, which have only recently started to appear in the mainstream food sector. Thus a large majority of the currently available nanotechnology products falls in the areas of supplements, health foods and nutraceuticals, with only a few products in the food and beverage areas. The main tenet behind the development of nano-sized ingredients and additives appears to be the enhanced uptake and bioavailability of nano-sized substances in the body, although other benefits such as improvement in taste, consistency, stability and texture, etc. have also been claimed. A major current area of application for ENPs is in food packaging, in the form of innovative nanoparticle/polymer composites that offer improved mechanical or antimicrobial properties.

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