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Nanotechnology is an emerging science and, if used to develop novel foods and processes, approval would be required under the 'Novel Foods Regulation' (Regulation (EC) No 258/97) to ensure products are safe. Nanotechnology is the manufacture and use of materials and structures at the nanometre scale (a nanometre is one millionth of a millimetre).
The Novel Foods Regulation can be found on the European Commission website via the external link at the bottom of this page.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the UK body responsible for the assessment of novel foods and it will not assess the safety of using nanotechnology in the food chain unless it is asked to do so. If a company wants authorisation to market food produced using nanotechnology, then the Agency is obliged to assess the food safety implications.
During any such safety assessment, the Agency will consult an independent advisory committee, the Advisory Committee on Novel Foods and Processes (ACNFP). The ACNFP comprises experts who advise the Agency on a wide range of new foods and food technologies.
There are no specific criteria to consider particle size under the Novel Foods Regulation. However, the assessment of the food or food ingredient includes details of the composition, nutritional value, metabolism, intended use and the level of microbiological and chemical contaminants. Where appropriate, this might also include studies into the potential for toxic, nutritional and allergenic effects. In addition, details of the manufacturing process used to process the food or food ingredient are also considered, because novel food production processes can render a food ‘novel’ if it alters the final composition of the food.
As well as any such scientific safety assessment, the committee would also consider consumer concerns and ethical issues.
New materials that are manufactured with small particles that measure up to 100 nanometres in diameter may exhibit novel properties. An Agency research project is due to finish in spring 2008, which is gathering more information on new and potential applications of this technology in the UK to materials and articles in contact with food, and food additives and novel food ingredients, specifically in the context of potential chemical migration into food. Consumer safety and regulatory implications arising from potential uses are being considered as part of the research.
More information about the research into the implications for FSA work, including the ethical, regulatory and chemical safety issues that may arise, can be found at the research project at the bottom of the page.
Nanotechnology can be defined as the design, characterisation, production and applications of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at the nanometre scale. It covers a very wide range of activities, so it is probably more correct to refer to ‘nanotechnologies’.
Nanomaterials have been defined by the Royal Society as having one dimension less than 100 nanometres, but this is not a rigid definition and may change as the science evolves.
There is increasing interest in the nanoscale because properties of such materials can be very different from those at the larger scale, and potentially very useful. This can be because materials have a relatively larger surface area which can make them more chemically reactive. Materials at this scale can also have different optical, electrical or magnetic behaviour.
The types of material produced can be at the nanoscale in one dimension (very thin coatings), two dimensions (nanowires) or three dimensions (nanoparticles, such as very fine powder preparations). Nanotechnologies are not new – chemists have been making polymers based on nanoscale subunits for many years and we are also exposed to nanoparticles in daily life (such as from vehicular exhaust emissions).
In its widest sense, nanotechnology and nanomaterials are a natural part of food processing and conventional foods, because the characteristic properties of many foods rely on nanometre sized components (such as nanoemulsions and foams). However, recent technological developments lead the way for manufactured nanoparticles to be added to food. These could be finely divided forms of existing ingredients, or completely novel chemical structures.
More information about nanotechnology and food can be found at the link below, in a paper sent to the FSA Board in April 2006.
Further information about nanotechnology can be found in a report presenting the findings of a review to identify potential gaps in regulation or risk assessment relating to the use of nanotechnologies and food. See the report, which the FSA consulted on in 2006, at the link below. In addition, see the summary of reponses to the consultation , published in August 2008.
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