By Roland Piquepaille
Nanoscientists and food industry specialists are meeting right now at Nano4Food 2005, a conference held in Wageningen, The Netherlands, on June 20-21. They will discuss how nanotechnology can help food processing companies to improve the safety and quality of their products by using nanosensors and diagnostic machines. But, in this article, FoodProductionDaily.com writes that there is another subject on the agenda. New kinds of foods, embedded with nanoparticles, could one day deliver their contents in our bodies, such as medicines or nutrients. So far, food companies are only investigating, and no product has been released yet. But technology is almost ready for these companies to sell you interactive drinks you can play with, changing colors or textures. Read more...Let's start with a financial forecast from an analyst -- who certainly never ate nanofood. And don't forget to read this again in 2010!
The nanofood market is expected to rise from $2.6bn today to $7bn next year and to $20.4bn in 2010 according to a study by consultant Helmut Kaiser.
Please notice that 'nanofood market' doesn't mean edible food. And this brings us back to how nanotechnology can be used for food safety.
On the processing line nanotechnology can be used to create tiny sensors and diagnostic machines that can help ensure food does not leave the factory with contaminants. Such nanodevices can also help processors detect harmful microbes and determine the shelf life for their foods. Such fine scale detection could help food processors make strategic decisions, such as the best transportation method for their products and storage methods, said Frans Kampers [, the program manager of bio-nanotechnology at Wageningen University.]
"The use of nanotechnology to ensure the quality of a food product has obvious benefits for consumers," he said. However, such robotic nanosensors and detectors are still being developed in food processing and research laboratories. Kampers forecasts that the first such machines will appear on the food production line within four years.
On the other hand, incorporating nanoparticles in our food is an entirely different story.
Researchers generally refer to nanofoods as being embedded with either "soft particles", those using common biological materials or with "hard particles", made up of non-organic substances.
"Soft particles" might be harmless to us, because our bodies can recognize them. But what about these "hard particles"?
Here the work is more speculative as the body is not used to ingesting and processing such substances, even if they are so tiny. As they are so tiny, nanoparticles exhibit different chemical behaviour than would normally be found in larger masses of material. Quantum mechanics, the behaviour of particles and surfaces at the microscopic level, comes into play.
"We do not really know exactly how these nanoparticles go through different routes in the body and where they end up," said Kampers. "We need more research about the effects on food and on the body."
So will we soon eat nanofoods? A long article from the Observer, U.K., about the cutting edge of food technology, published in May 2004, already mentioned that "food technologists are dreaming up ever new ways of feeding us -- and the future is any colour you want." Here is a selected quote.
Manuel Marquez-Sanchez [, a scientist at Kraft Foods,] has big hopes for nanotechnology. By manipulating ingredients at the nano level, and storing them in 'nanocapsules', he believes that Kraft will be able to devise such treats as an interactive, customisable drink. 'The idea is that everyone buys the same drink, but you'll be able to decide its colour, flavour, concentration and texture,' he explains enthusiastically. 'Once you have a technology to design nanocapsules, based on food-grade materials, you can offer products that put the consumer in control.' Although the industry, one presumes, will wish to retain control of everything from labelling requirements and costs to the degree of prior safety testing.
So what do you think? Are you really ready for nanofood or not?
Sources: Ahmed ElAmin, FoodProductionDaily.com, June 17, 2005; and various web sites
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