6 replies to this topic

[SaRaRa]

Nanotechnology seems to be a new promising domain for food scientists to play with. Some examples of the current use of nanomaterials in agriculture, foods and food packaging include:

- molecular cages of a diameter of 1-5 nm made from silica-mineral hydride complex used in nutritional supplements.
Purpose: Nano-sized mycrohydrin has increased potency and bioavailability. Exposure to moisture releases H-ions and acts as a powerful antioxidant.

- Particles of iron (300 nm) used in nutritional drinks
Purpose: Nano-sized iron particles have increased reactivity and bioavailability,

- Nanoparticles of silver used in food contact materials (cooking equipment, crockery, kitchenware).
Purpose: Nano-sized silver particles have increased antibacterial properties.

- Starch nanospheres (50-150 nm) used in food packaging.
Purpose: These nanoparticles have 400 times the surface area of natural starch particles. When used as an adhesive they require less water and thus less time and energy to dry.

- Nanoparticles of silica in a polymer-based nanocomposite used in food packaging.
Purpose: Nanoparticles of silica in the plastic prevent the penetration of oxygen and gas of the wrapping, extending the product's shelf life.

- Nanoscale miscelle (capsule) of lipophilic or water insoluble substances used as food additives.
Purpose: Surrounding active ingredients within soluble nanocapsules increases absorption within the body (including individual cells).

- 100 nm particle size emulsions used in plant growth treatment.
Purpose: Using nano-sized particles increases the potency of active ingredients, potentialy reducing the quantity to be applied (Miller and Senjen, 2008).

"Out of the Laboratory and On to Our Plates" written by Georgia Miller and Dr. Rye Senjen, Friends of the Earth Australia Nanotechnology Project.

Other nanotechnology applications in the Food Industry.

Other exaples.

But there are also many arguments about health safety like here and here.

What do you think?

Here are some videoconferences that I found on youtube. I will only post the first because its easy to find there the rest.

06/18/08 - Nanotechnology Seminar - Chen

Cheers!

[GMO]

Personal opinion from a chemistry background is Nanotechnology is a very wide field and the applications and chemicals have widely differing effects and likely dangers.

I think the name is scary to some people but if you consider the iron example, breakfast cereals have been dosed with fine iron shavings for years as a nutritional supplement. Making the iron smaller doesn't necessarily make it more dangerous.

I think there are huge opportunities. I spoke to a manufacturer using it for getting open structured salt crystals meaning the 'impact' of the salt was huge without the downside of the health risks.

I say judge each innovation on its merits.

[Charles.C]

Dear GMO,

breakfast cereals have been dosed with fine iron shavings for years as a nutritional supplement.

Very eloquent phraseology I take it you are not currently working in the breakfast cereal trade ?.

Presumably this step is after the metal detector ??

Rgds / Charles.C

[AS NUR]

modern technology always have two Opinion... there are Pro and contra.... the nano tech as same as Genetic modified organism issue.. Some scientist say that GMO tech have benefit for human being, it can be increase productivity of corn, soy etc so it can supply many food to world especially for 3rd countries.. but the other think is the effect of mutagenesis of food in human and environment.. some people aware on this potential problems...

[SaRaRa]

Some more info...

Nanotechnology and food

Nanotechnology food coming to a fridge near you

Company develops spray to light up pathogens

Biofinger portable molecular detection tool

Dirt-repellent surfaces with lotus effect

Molecular food manufacturing

[SaRaRa]

I just found the following video and I think that its very interesting since it can allow the remote control of the activity of proteins that have CNTs (Carbon Nano Tubes) attached on them by exposing them to light both visible and NIR light. I think this can also have some important applications in food systems and the food industry in general!

Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new way to seek out specific proteins, including dangerous proteins such as anthrax toxin, and render them harmless using nothing but light.

The technique lends itself to the creation of new antibacterial and antimicrobial films to help curb the spread of germs, and also holds promise for new methods of seeking out and killing tumors in the human body.

Using Carbon Nanotubes To Seek and Destroy Anthrax Toxin


What are Carbon Nanotubes

[Hongyun]

Adding to the list of Nano related news...

[FLEXNEWS] Dr. Burdock, to begin with, for those of us who are unfamiliar with the matter, could you quickly explain what nanotechnology is? According to you, what are the benefits of nanotechnology and what are these "toxic risks"?

[George Burdock] Nanotechnology deals with particles having at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers (nm). At this small size, substances take on characteristics that are sometimes quite different from larger particles of the same substance. For example, at the nano level, copper can become an insulator, rather than a conductor of electricity; gold can exhibit other colors such as blue and red at the nano level.

These changes in physical properties are often manifested as different biological properties when the substance is exposed to animals. Regardless if a substance has been demonstrated safe in its normal state (non‐nanosized), the changes in physical characteristics could well be manifested as different toxicological effects upon exposure to animals. For example, the safety of many substances is the result of the substances not being absorbed in the intestine or prohibited from traversing conventional barriers such as the blood‐brain barrier, placental barrier, gonadal barrier, etc.

However, in a nanoized state, it is known that nano particles can readily pass through the intestine into the blood circulation by going through or even between intestinal cells. Likewise, substances that were not known to cause birth defects because they could not pass through the placental barrier might cause birth defects because access to the fetus is possible as a nano‐sized particle.

Aside from simple entry into hitherto “protected” areas as the result of their smaller size, nano‐particles exhibit different characteristics and therefore, a substance that was not toxic in its “macro‐sized” state, could be quite toxic in its new nano‐sized state. Therefore, nano particles must undergo at least an initial screening for safety and, if warranted, additional safety testing as the result of new properties.

And the possible developments/applications in the near future.

[FLEXNEWS] According to you what are the main scientific hurdles for the development of nanotechnology in the food industry? What developments can we expect in food industry nanotechnology applications in the next few years?

[George Burdock] As I have mentioned, nanotechnology is very cross‐cutting (among many industries) and many of the basic properties of nanotechnology have been worked out. It is only a matter of time before applications are made to food.

Nanotechnology in food packaging is already showing great progress: (1) “smart” packaging to let the consumer know if the product is expired or has been exposed to elevated temperature or if the wrapper has been breached even at a microscopic level; (2) packaging that permits influx of gases that are good for the package contents (e.g. nitrogen), but excludes harmful odours or oxygen and packaging that lets out harmful gases and prevents their return, retarding spoilage and; (3) packaging that is stronger, lighter, more absorbent, keeps out damaging ultraviolet rays but allows the product to be seen by the consumer, etc.

However, probably the greatest applications will be seen in (1) particle size applications to food and (2) applications in packaging.

Particle size technology is the most exciting and will allow nano particles (colours, flavours, etc), to be suspended in solution without settling out or the use of expensive suspending agents that can have unwanted affects on other food ingredients.

Particle size will also help absorption (in a good way) also. For example, only about 17% of a dose of vitamin E is absorbed and the rest is excreted in the feces; as nano particles, most all of ingested vitamin E will be absorbed.

The bottom line of particle size manipulation for foods is that fewer and/or smaller amounts of expensive ingredients will be used and food will become less expensive.

Full interview can be found here.