Nanotechnology in food: research, development and labelling

Across many industries, nanotechnology is the future. It has the potential to revolutionise medicine, boost fuel performance, improve energy generation and contribute to futuristic electronics. However, the use of nanotechnology in food is more of a thorny issue.

Nanotechnology is simply the use of particles or materials that are less than 100 nanometres (nm) in size. There are one million nanometres in a millimetre and 25.4 million nanometres in an inch. However, the tiny size enables particles to behave differently to their larger counterparts, which means they can be manipulated to behave or interact in specific ways.

For food, this opens up the possibility adding nutritional properties without affecting taste or texture, as well as improving packaging technology. However, there have been fears that nanotechnology could present a danger to humans, which has led to scepticism about the value of using nanotechnology in food and, from December 2014, a requirement to identify nanoscale ingredients on food packaging in the EU.

With no register of nanoscale ingredients available at present, how prevalent is the technology in food and how common might it be in the future?

How common is nanotechnology in food?

Day to day, how much are consumers coming across nano in their food? Not much, according to Institute of Nanotechnology CEO Mark Morrison. "I would say that in food itself it’s probably not that common," he says.

It is, however, more prevalent in food packaging, to increase product life and delay loss of fizziness in drinks. Morrison explains: "In terms of food packaging there’s a lot of development through use of nanoclays, which are technically nanotechnology because the particles are nanoscale, but it’s just using existing clay that people have been using for a long time."

Packaging is not the only place where naturally nano-sized particles occur. Consumers have actually eaten nano-sized particles their whole lives, as they are present in a whole host of food ingredients. For example, a recent study published in Scientific Reports found that carbon nanoparticles occur naturally in many carbohydrate-based food caramels, such as bread, cornflakes, sugar and biscuits.

The potential for nanotechnology in food, however, is significant, with a wide variety of projects in development at the research stage. "Currently research is looking at using natural nanoscale materials such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and processing these in a different way so that you can remove some of the contents," explains Morrison. "So perhaps instead of having fat globules in mayonnaise, having fat capsules that feel the same to consumers as they taste them but which have got a much lower fat content. But it’s also using the materials to help package other nutrients, so everything from vitamins to minerals, a lot of which are readily degraded by oxygen, or taste pretty horrible, so things like fish oil."

As a result, it seems that nanotechnology could have much to offer the lucrative healthy eating market, potentially providing the Holy Grail of foods: one that is healthy and actually tastes good.

Boosting nutrition through nanofoods

Another nanotechnology approach being researched is focused on increasing nutritional benefits. Dr Gareth Cave of Nottingham Trent University has developed a way to suspend nano-sized iron oxide in water to use as a fertilizer, which enriches the produce with iron while it grows.

Cave takes iron oxide particles that are 10nm – 15nm in diameter, and coats them in a water-soluable amino acid such as histidine, which allows them to be held in water. Without the amino acid, the iron would just fall out.

"Our initial work used hydroponic systems, so we drip-fed them with controlled lighting and everything else," explains Cave. "But now we’ve moved on to doing it in soil as well. We made samples of the nanoparticles, put them into the soil bed and then you just add water. The nanoparticles just leach out of the soil into the plant over time."

Cave and his team initially performed their research with potatoes, but are now developing the system for chillies and have discovered an additional benefit. "What we found is that it’s probably three more times the growth rates, compared to when you don’t have the nanoparticles in there," he says.

This additional yield has understandably piqued the interest of farmers, and could indicate a solution to food security. "We did the iron to try and combat things like iron deficiency, anaemia, but I think from the agrichemicals perspective it’s more about security in terms of whether we can grow an extra crop cycle," says Cave.

Cave believes the technology could also work for other nutrients, and is about to embark on four years of research to find out. Cave is also developing the technology for processed food fortification. This version of the technology involves vitamin C instead of amino acids, and is currently being tested for efficacy in humans. It has also gained interest from major food manufacturers.

"One of the innovation people from Kellogg’s came over last year to talk to us about this. They were so impressed with the claims in terms of fortification of the foods and the increased bioavailability that they were of the opinion that if this technology works Kellogg’s wouldn’t even bother with doing an exclusivity licence because they think it’s too important and it should be rolled out globally," Cave says. "If it works it’s going to help everyone."

Should nano ingredients be labelled?

As of December 2014, products sold in the EU will need to identify any nano ingredients in the ingredients list printed on the packaging. But with a host of innovative technologies in development, will the introduction of labelling in the European Union have an impact on research? "I think it will have a significant impact," says Cave.

Morrison is sceptical about the value of distinguishing ingredients on the nanoscale. "The European Union’s definition of nanotechnology is kind of blurry," he explains, citing the confusing size range, which applies to more than 50% of materials in an ingredient. "So it’s not clear to food manufacturers; will they have to comply with new legislation?"

Morrison is also concerned that labelling nano ingredients without explaining why they are labelled could increase consider scepticism and fear. "If a consumer sees a label with lots of information, they’re going to think ‘Why am I being given this information? I must be given this information because there’s something slightly risky to it’," he says. "It’s quite a complex situation and it has been discussed by a number of people that labelling is all very well, but what are you putting on the label? Why are you putting it on the label? What is it supposed to be achieving?"

One subject of particular confusion under the new legislation is whether naturally occurring nanomaterials should be identified in the same way as artificially created nanomaterials, an issue that is yet to be adequately clarified for food producers.

"There are nanomaterials out there anyway, for example flour, which is routinely at the nano scale," says Cave. "So the question is, are the EU going to say that flour or, for example, Coffee Mate is 100% nano? So it’s a bit of a farce really."

Is it really possible that products such as flour could be identified as nano? "Potentially, yes, because it’s any natural or engineered nanomaterial," says Morrison.

It seems that come 2014, considerable issues are likely to arise from the labelling legislation, many of which are yet to be resolved.

Consumer understanding of nanotechnology

Regardless of labelling, the issue of ensuring consumers is going to be a challenge for producers of this fledgling technology. "The concern that a number of people have, quite rightly, about nanotechnology in general is that we don’t know enough about certain nanomaterials and what effect they have on human health and the environment," says Morrison.

However, he stresses the need to understand the difference between applications in food and the wider technology. "The fact is that a lot of the nanomaterials raising concerns are never going to be applied as food products because we already know enough about them to suggest that they should not be ingested, they should not come into contact with people in that way," he adds. "So the materials that are being looked at, the materials in food packaging, they have been classed as safe for that purpose."

In order to get a true gauge of public perception in Europe, an initiative called Nanopinion has been established. This EC-funded project is working across 11 countries to establish opinions on nanotechnology in a wide range of applications, and is in the process of surveying thousands of Europeans about their thoughts on the technology.

To avoid another GM scenario, the industry would be wise to pay close attention to the results, and engage with consumers accordingly. Morrison believes this engagement will be business as usual for manufacturers and retailers.

"If they’re looking to develop a new product, they look to see what the target market will accept in that product, what they are looking for, what the advantages are, how it should be packaged, size, portions, that sort of thing. And by doing that and talking about advantages, talking about some of the unknowns – because there are always going to be unknowns – in an open manner, I think that will get more public acceptance of nanotechnology in different ways in this industry," he explains.

So could nanotechnology really change food processing, or will it always be a technology at the fringes of the industry?

"I think it will," says Cave. " I mean, the producers and major manufacturers that we have been talking to, people like Kellogg’s, Coca-Cola and Leverhulme, are very interested and they’ve got their own research going on in these areas -and obviously they wouldn’t be putting money into it if they didn’t think there was a future in it."