www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

The role of nanotechnology in food processing, monitoring, labelling,
storage and distribution is the subject of a two day meeting in Amsterdam,
Holland, October 2006 by Ahmed ElAmin.

According to organisers of the Nano and Microtechnologies in the Food &
Healthfood Industries conference, the application of nanotechnology and
nanoparticles in food are emerging rapidly.

Some analysts predict that nanotechnology will be incorporated into ?16.4bn
worth of food products by 2010.

The Amsterdam meeting is one of a growing number of such scientific
conferences worldwide, sparked by the food sector's interest in developing
new products that could provide health advantages to consumers. Scientists
are looking at nanotechnology applications covering all areas of the food
chain, from agricultural applications to food processing and enhancing
bioavailability of nutrients.

However enthusiasm over the rate of progress and the possibilities is being
tempered by concerns over possible downsides of the science of the
miniscule, stated the Institute of Nanotechnology.

The conference will highlight many of the applications of nanotechnologies
to the food and beverage industries in Europe.

Such applications include a broad spectrum of products from pesticides,
cosmetics, medical application to packaging materials, processing
technologies and novel or functional foods

Other topics being explored at the meeting are nanotechnology applications
in nutrition and health foods, for rapid safety testing, and for the
prevention of food borne disease.

Participants will also discuss the safety and regulatory issues related to
nanotechnology, along with public awareness and understanding of the role of
nanotechnology in foods.

Among the presentations Kees Eijkel of the Nano4Vitality consortium will
discuss the need to increase the speed and efficiency of the
commercialisation process.

"Nanotechnology introduces new chances for innovation in the food and health
industries at great speed, but these chances face a long and intensive path
towards full commercialisation," he says in a synopsis of his presentation.
"There is a lot of emphasis on fundamental and basic research at this time."

Malcolm Povey, a professor of food physics at the University of Leeds will
discuss techniques for the characterisation of foods using nanotechnology.

Foods are generally complex, heterogeneous systems, often containing high
concentrations of naturally occurring nano-particles such as proteins.

"Production and characterisation of nano-particles in foods has hitherto
been called ?food colloid science', so there is a wealth of experience in
this area upon which nano-technology may draw upon," he argues. "Ultrasound
spectroscopy offers the best prospect for the characterisation of
concentrated systems of nano-particles."

He will also examine naturally occurring nanoparticles such as the
self-assembling protein casein. He will compare ultrasound spectroscopy,
dynamic and static light scattering techniques according to their relative
merits for the detection and characterisation of nanoparticles in food.

Qasim Chaudhry, Defra of the Central Science Laboratory in the UK will look
at the use of nanomaterials in food and food contact materials and the
regulatory and consumer safety implications.

"The rapid proliferation of nanotechnology in recent years has led to an
ever-increasing application of nano-scale materials in a vast array of
industrial and consumer products," he stated. "This includes a range of
foods and drinks, food supplements, and food contact materials. However,
such widespread use of nanomaterials, that are largely untested in terms of
effects on human health and the environment, has also led to a number of
uncertainties and concerns."

Anna Tudos of Biochip Group at the Universiteit Twente in the Netherlands
will look at how regularly occurring food scares and several food scandals
might have been prevented through the use of food analysis techniques such
as surface plasmon resonance (SPR).

"Food analysis can be carried out as a quality assurance measure early in
the processing chain as well as later to ensure food safety," she argues.

SPR has been gaining terrain in the area of food analysis recently. In here
presentation Tudos will look at approaches and examples on microfabricated
devices in combination with SPR for label-free determination of multiple
components in complex matrices.

Frans Kampers, the director BioNT will look at how micro- and nanotechnology
will lead to sensors and diagnostic instruments with improved sensitivity
and selectivity. Such devices will allow managers to monitor food processes
and assure food quality.

"These new instruments will enable much faster measurements in or near
production lines by non-expert personnel," he stated. "But micro- and
nanotechnology will also result in new concepts for food production
processes."

Such examples include microsieves for separation and fractionation which can
also improve emulsification processes and can result in new products like
low-fat mayonnaise.

"Control of matter at the nanoscale will enable fine tuning of specific food
characteristics like texture to the demands of specific target groups," he
stated. "The use of drug delivery concepts for nutrient delivery will
improve the nutritional quality of food products. Nanotechnology can be used
to improve packaging materials. Combined with printable electronics and low
cost sensors information about the product and its quality will become
readily available to consumers."

Kjeld van Bommel of Biomade Technology Foundation will look at
supramolecular gels as :novel materials for the formulation and delivery of
nutraceuticals.

He will discuss Biomade's expertise in low molecular weight gelators
(LMWGs). These are small organic molecules that are capable of forming gels
in aqueous media, in food oils, or in emulsions.

"Such gels of LMWGs are an attractive complement or even alternative for the
polymer gels such as gelatin currently used in food and nutraceutical
applications, as they possess properties generally not attainable by polymer
gels," he stated.

Mark Mansour will discuss the the emerging global regulatory framework for
nanotechnology. Robert Donofrio of NSF International will discuss rapid
safety testing techniques for of foods' nanomaterials.

"Though nanotechnology brings many potential benefits to food production,
such as increased shelf life and pathogen resistance, its development must
be guided by appropriate safety assessments and regulation to minimise
risk," he argues. "Currently, there is no framework in place to assess the
toxicity of nanomaterials. This is a concern in both the US and Europe.
Additionally, it will be essential to have validated, rapid tests in place
to evaluate the potential toxicity of new nanomaterials."

Two new emerging technologies he will highlight for the toxicological
assessment of nanomaterials in food applications are high content screening
(HCS) and what is called the "zebrafish model". The HCS technique evaluates
the biological effects of chemical substances in in vitro cell based assays
using the ArrayScan HCS Reader from Cellomics.

The Zebrafish (Danio rerio) has been a prominent model vertebrate in a
variety of biological disciplines. It can provide valuable developmental
toxicity information. Coupled with high content screening, it could provide
valuable insight into the potential toxicity of nanomaterials, he stated.

Vasco Teixeira of GRF-Functional Coatings Group at the University of Minho
in Portugal will look at advanced nanotechnology thin film techniques.

In the field of nanotechnology-based thin films and coatings, new approaches
using nanoscale effects can be used to design, create or model nanocoating
systems with significantly optimised or enhanced properties of high interest
to the food, health and biomedical industry, he stated.

"In this field of new packaging technologies, nanostructured architectures
coatings such as nanocomposite films are given the unique role of enhancing
food impact over the consumer's health," he stated. "For example, the unique
properties of diamond like carbon (DLC) film, including its chemical
inertness and impermeability, make it possible for new applications in food,
beverage and medical market segments."

Cees Van Rijn of Aquamarijn Micro Filtration will present nano and
micro-engineering techniques for microfiltration and nanosensing
applications. His topic includes the micro filtration of beverages using
microsieves.

With microengineering techniques it is possible to manufacture very precise
microsieves. The pores, which are well defined by photolithographic methods
allow accurate separation of particles by size. The membrane thickness is
usually smaller than the pore size resulting in operational process fluxes
that are one to two decades higher than obtained with convential filtration
methods.

He will also examine the future of nanowire sensing along the food chain.
Nanowire sensing techniques look at the rapid detection of relevant
biomolecules using a nanowire with a diameter comparable to the size of an
individual biomolecule. The technique offers a direct, real-time detection
of captured biomolecules without the usage of a fluorescent, magnetic or
otherwise labeled molecule or particle.

Hans Bouwmeester of RIKILT-Institute of Food Safety at Wageningen University
will cover the expected impact of nanotechnologies on industrial production.

Lynn Frewer from Wageningen University will examine consumer perspectives on
food and nanotechnology.

"Nanotechnology can be used to develop new products and processes that can
improve the quality of life of consumers through improved health, better
sensory enjoyment of food, and reduced risk associated with food
consumption -- for example, reduced microbial contamination, or improved
traceability of allergenic ingredients," he stated. "However, as has already
been demonstrated by the example of genetically modified foods, successful
implementation and commercialisation of new technologies technology is
contingent on societal acceptance of the technology overall, as consumer
responses to specific applications."

Neville Craddock of Neville Craddock Associates will present current and
potential regulation of nanotechnologies in the food industry. His paper
will provide a practitioner's view of the law currently in place.

Tim Wooster of Food Science Australia will discuss the use of nanoemulsions
for the beverage sector. Nanoemulsions have recently received a lot of
attention from the food industry because of their high clarity, he stated.

"This may enable the addition of nanoemulsified bioactives and flavors to a
beverage without a change in product appearance," he stated. "The formation
of food nanoemulsions is particularly challenging because of limitations on
the type of surfactants that can be used. Approaches that have been used
include microemulsion and nanoemulsion formats."

Zahra Akbari of the department of chemical engineering at Amirkabir
University of Technology will look at the potential of nanotechnology for
the food packaging industry.

His presentation gathers a number of significant results where
nanotechnology was satisfactorily applied to improve packaged food quality
and safety by increasing the barrier properties.

"Nanotechnology will become one of the most powerful forces for innovation
in the food packaging," he stated.

One such innovation is polymer nanocomposite technology which holds the key
to future advances in flexible packaging.

Companies such as Heinz, Nestlé, Unilever and Kraft are all examining the
potential of nanotechnology for packaging, food safety and nutritional
products.

[www.foodproductiondaily-usa.com]

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