Nanotechnology on the table

Nanomaterials are materials with at least one of measurements between one and one hundred nanometers. A nanometer (i.e., one millionth of a millimeter) is fifty thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, and so we are in a universe invisible to the human eye. It is a solid whose surface is one-centimeter square. If we divide this solid into millions of particles, the surface increases by a millionfold, and hence there is a huge increase in surface area and thus a better use of their properties, with a drastic reduction in the quantity used. Nanomaterials have applications in various fields – electronics, pharmaceuticals, energy, environment, food, packaging, textiles, cosmetics, etc. – which have not yet been fully explored still today.

The physical properties of materials and nanocomposites in particular also affect foods, in an orientation that tends to favor physical rather than chemical treatments, with the latter being increasingly opposed by the public. The possible food applications of nanomaterials are diverse, covering also food and especially their packaging for now.

Nanomaterials can in theory be used as food additives, i.e., for specific technological purposes (anti-caking agents, colorings, etc.). At the moment, no nanomaterials have been introduced as additives, but some additives used for a long time (such as silicon and titanium dioxides) contain a part of their constituents in nanoform. Moreover, the presence of nanomaterials in national and EU food production in this period is not significant and is limited to nanoform fractions…

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