Food Navigator reports that UK experts are demanding public debate and regulation of nanomaterials in foods. Without that, they warn, nanotechnology risks “facing the same fate as genetically modified (GM) foods in consumer perceptions.”
Nanotechnology is about manipulating materials on the scale of atoms or molecules, measured in nanometers (nm), one billionth, or 10−9, of a meter.
Many companies are already using nanomaterials in agriculture, food processing, food packaging, and supplements. This is not something the public has heard much about. Food companies often don’t know whether or not they are using these materials.
Nanotechnology science is new, and the industry is unregulated.
The FDA’s nanotechnology web page links to a quite thorough 2007 report from a task force, but the agency’s only guidance to date tells companies how they can find out whether they are using nanomaterials.Continue reading…
