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The communication challenges presented by nanofoods

Nature Nanotechnology volume 6, pages 683–688 (2011)Cite this article

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Nanotechnology has the potential to lead to healthier, safer and better tasting foods, and improved food packaging, but the hesitation of the food industry and public fears in some countries about tampering with nature may be holding back the introduction of nanofoods.

Nanotechnology is unusual in that it has been hijacked as a brand name to market various products that have nothing to do with the nanoscale, such as portable music players (iPod Nano), cars (Tata Nano) and computer devices (Logitech nano cordless mouse), whereas products that do contain nanomaterials often avoid reference to the term 'nano'. In most countries, there is still uncertainty surrounding how the government bodies responsible for consumer product safety will regulate nanomaterials, and this might explain the reluctance of some companies to use the term nano in their marketing. It is also possible that companies fear that they might be targeted by consumer advocacy groups. However, this reluctance might also reflect general uncertainty over how the public currently views nanoscience or is likely to view it in the future. The lingering possibility that consumers might reject nanotechnology products out of concern about the impact of nanomaterials on human health and the environment is, therefore, likely to be one of the reasons why the commercialization of nanotechnology is not keeping pace with basic research in nanoscience1.

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Figure 1: Nanotechnology offers potential benefits to many areas of the food industry including (clockwise from top left) agriculture, food processing, food packaging and the nutritional aspects of food.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks F. E. Duncan and A. McCarthy for helpful discussions, and library staff at the US Food and Drug Administration Center for Food Safety and Nutrition for consultations and assistance with literature searches.

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  1. Timothy V. Duncan is at the US Food and Drug Administration, Institute for Food Safety and Health, Bedford Park, Illinois 60501-1957, USA,

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Correspondence to Timothy V. Duncan.

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Duncan, T. The communication challenges presented by nanofoods. Nature Nanotech 6, 683–688 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2011.193

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