Nano-foods future or fiction?

Using nanoscale particle blocks to design the food of tomorrow may greatly change the way in which food is processed and packaged. Imagine sitting down for breakfast to enjoy a buffet of designer food that not only delivers unique nutrients but also excites taste buds and our feel for textures. With the introduction of the first nano-applications such as anti-wrinkle cream and dirtrepellent sprays, will nano-foods soon follow? Or will detractors be proven right that
nanotechnology faces rejection by a public already wary of genetically modified food?
Elsevier Food International Vol.8, No.1, February 2005
Vincent Hentzepeter

At this moment food design by shaping molecules and atoms sounds more like nano fiction than nano-future. However, researchers do believe that nanotechnology will change the face of the world in the next decades. Major breakthroughs are expected in the area of ICT,  electronics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, the environment, plastics and construction.
Agri-foods are likely to follow suit. When the first nano-foods can be expected to hit the  supermarket shelves is hard to predict. Food safety regulations and consumer acceptance in  this respect may pose a higher hurdle than the speed of R&D. For the time being, the future of  nanotechnology looks promising. The principle of ultimate miniaturisation of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at nanometre scale will make it possible to cross current borders in technology. Getting as small as one millionth of a millimetre paves the road to bottom up design of materials and product, opening up new markets.

About nano: • The term ‘nanotechnology’ is rooted in the Greek word ‘nanos’, which translates as ‘dwarf’. • Nanoscience is the study of phenomena and manipulation of materials at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. • Nanotechnologies are the design, characterisation, production and application of structures, devices and systems by controlling shape and size at nanometre scale. Source: Royal Society Report on Nanoscience and Nanotechnologies: Opportunities and Uncertainties, Policy Document 19/04, July 2004

Lotus-effect Advocates have touted nanotechnology as a potential multibilliondollar industry. According to these visionaries nanoscale techniques are the next big step in our technology development cycle since the start of the industrial revolution. After textiles (1771), railroads (1825), automotive (1886), information technology (1915), computers (1939), biotechnology (1975), it is the turn of nanotechnology (1997). In 2003, a first rush of nanotech products was marketed, among these many nano-treated materials such as polymers for sunglasses, improved optics for photo cameras but interestingly enough also a facial cream by L’Oréal Paris. The cosmetics company, which introduced its first nanotechnology product in 1998, launched Plenitude Revitalift anti-wrinkle cream two years ago. The secret behind Revitalift is nano encapsulation - a patented 200-nanometre nanotechnology process that enables the incorporation of vitamin A inside a polymer ‘capsule’. This capsule is believed to act like a sponge, soaking up and holding the cream inside until the outer shell dissolves under the skin.
A more recent innovation, is the development of water- and dirt-repellent nano-surfaces that  mimic the Lotus-effect. Leaves of this tropical wetland plant are famous for their extremely hydrophobic properties. Falling droplets bead up and roll off at the slightest slope. As a result  surfaces stay dry, even during a heavy shower.
Inspired by this mechanism German chemical company BASF developed a spray-on coating, for rough surfaces that can be applied to several types of surfaces to make them water- or mdirtresistant. Applied to food packaging, this kind of innovations could enable the construction of nano-cardboards that are (better) suitable for humid or moist environments. This, together with improved fibre characteristics by the inclusion of specific nanoparticles, could eventually lead to a much thinner board than today’s standard. This robust and waterrepellent cardboard is expected to be launched in January 2009.

Market surge
What are the prospects for nanotechnology in food, apart from packaging materials? “Either you work with nanotechnology and nano-bio-information and keep leadership, or you are out,” is the tone of voice of a 2003 study by Helmut Kaiser Consultancy. In ‘Nanotechnology in Food and Food Processing’ companies are urged to get on the nano-train before it has passed by and are warned at the same time for the disruptiveness of molecular technologies. Nanotechnology may change conventional production systems faster than most scientists expect, the report states. It can make products cheaper, production more efficient, safer and more sustainable using less water and chemicals with savings up to 40 or 60 per cent by 2015. A combination of nanoscale biotechnology and information will enable novel food technologies, whereby improving the safety and quality of food will be the first step, says the report. New processes will also help reach the industry’s goal to customise and personalise products. Although few nano-foods are on themarket today, 180 applications in different developing stages are on their way. Authors estimate the current nano-food market at
US$2.6 billion, probably taking into account the supplement and food ingredient sector where encapsulation techniques for vitamins, minerals and food flavours have grown strongly over the last few years. With many innovations yet to come, the nano-food sector is expected to surge to US$7 billion in 2006. In 2010, this market will even have tripled to a ¤2 0.4 billion. Molecular robotics The consultancy company estimates that more than 200 companies around the world are today active in research and development. Most of them can be found in the US followed by Japan and China. Not surprisingly Asia with more than 50 per cent of the world population will be the biggest market for nano-food by 2010 with China getting the biggest part of the pudding. By thenseveral thousands of R&D-companies could be exploring nano-foods. It is important, however, to notice thatbreak throughs in nanotechnology highly depend on progress in the field of genetic and bio-molecular research. Understanding the genetic puzzle behind crops enables industries to decode and analyse DNA-information. The next step will be to predict, control and improve the agricultural production.
Consequently, the combination of DNAtechniques and nanotechnology may offer opportunities. What to think of new nutritiondelivery systems using molecular robotics?
These so-called nanoscale transportation vehicles could carry active agents, namely those that resulted from DNA-controlled crop production, more precisely and efficiently to the human cells and parts where they are required. Compounds like drugs, nutrients, flavours, probiotics and nutraceuticals could be delivered in this way. Agents for quality assurance and tracking could be incorporated, as well as special compounds for pathogen and contamination detection and elimination. The latter could be applied in combination with biosensors made up of bioselective surfaces. On the processing side, nanotechnology may bring the manipulation of food molecules and  atoms closer. This would provide the future food industry with a powerful method to design food with much more capability and precision, at lower costs and in a more sustainable way. One example: Emulsifying ‘impossible’ mixtures by changing the properties of contact surfaces in oil/water mixtures. Another illustration of bottom-up design are self-assembling gel fibres.
This patented application by nanotech research company Biomade describes the entrapment of small molecules in a network of gelator molecules and gel fibres. In this way specific ingredients could be incorporated in the food structure; sensational foods made possible by a sensational technology.

Euphoria?
What about consumers who are unaware of nano-food? How will they react to the first generation of functional foods with tailor-made ingredients and nano-engineered delivery? In this regard, the euphoria around nanotechnology shows some striking parallels with genetic modified products in the early 1990s. GMOs would solve the world’s agricultural problems. What happened instead?

Nano: yes or no? From a food safety point of view nano-foods will face some major restrictions. For primary packaging, a thorough food grade clearance will be needed, indicating lengthy FDA and EFAprocedures. Comparable with the market for active packaging, where release of certain components like oxygen scavengers help to maintain product freshness, approval for commercialisation can take several years. For any foods made with nanotechnology, time-tomarket will even be longer. Although nanoparticles may offer sensational health benefits and grand application novelties, little is known about the adverse effects. Nanocompounds can be highly toxic and current toxicology tests are not appropriate for nanoparticles. They are designed for far larger structures. Once applied in nano-foods they may miss some of the key effects.

Modified crops became a problem themselves as GMOs faced increased scrutiny from the public opinion and caused a trade war between Europe and America. According to Tim Harper from Cientifica Ltd, some lessons can be learned from the past when introducing new technologies. For instance, that the public is usually suspicious of ‘technology’ and therefore NGOs rather than scientists should be the communicators.
Moreover, information campaigns should better communicate the benefits and the applications instead of focusing on the risks and scientific background. However, one problem remains: nanotechnology is difficult to explain. Even for NGOs this will be a tough thing to do since emotion plays an important role in the public opinion about food. In the food context, misrepresentation can easily damage the great potential of a technology. Once consumers associate nanotechnology with foods that contain ‘nano-bots’ or confuse them with out-ofcontrol breeding machines, no campaign will ever get that image ‘right’ again. And that is a serious threat.