Food and Beverage Ingredients Induce the Formation of Silver Nanoparticles in Products Stored within Nanotechnology-Enabled Packaging

Abstract

Nanotechnology-based packaging may improve food quality and safety, but packages manufactured with polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) could be a source of human dietary exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Previous studies showed that PNCs release ENMs to foods predominantly in a dissolved state, but most of this work used food simulants like dilute acetic acid and water, leaving questions about how substances in real foods may influence exposure. Here, we demonstrate that food and beverage ingredients with reducing properties, like sweeteners, may alter exposure by inducing nanoparticle formation in foods contacting silver nanotechnology-enabled packaging. We incorporated 12.8 ± 1.4 nm silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into polyethylene and stored media containing reducing ingredients in packages manufactured from this material under accelerated room-temperature and refrigerated conditions. Analysis of the leachates revealed that reducing ingredients increased the total silver transferred to foods contacting PNC packaging (by as much as 7-fold) and also induced the (re)­formation of AgNPs from this dissolved silver during storage. AgNP formation was also observed when Ag+ was introduced to solutions of natural and artificial sweeteners (glucose, sucrose, aspartame), commercial beverages (soft drinks, juices, milk), and liquid foods (yogurt, starch slurry), and the amount and morphology of reformed AgNPs depended on the ingredient formulation, silver concentration, storage conditions, and light exposure. These results imply that food and beverage ingredients may influence dietary exposure to nanoparticles when PNCs are used in packaging applications, and the practice of using food simulants may in certain cases underpredict the amount of ENMs likely to be found in foods stored in these materials.

Titanium dioxide and table sugar enhance the leaching of silver out of nanosilver packaging

“…Hydrophobic AgNPs capable of being incorporated within LPDE were synthesized in water and phase transferred to chloroform using our published method. 17 Dispersion of these AgNPs into LDPE was accomplished using a DSM Xplore 15 mL micro-compounder. Full details on these procedures are included in the ESI † section.…”

“…On the other hand, we recently demonstrated that certain reducing ingredients commonly found in foods and beverages (e.g., monosaccharide sugars), or ingredients that can hydrolyze into reducing substances during storage (starches or complex sugars), are capable of converting ionic Ag migrated from packaging back into particulate Ag with various sizes and morphologies. 17 Because ionic and particulate Ag may exhibit different biological effects after oral exposure, 18 these prior findings suggest that the way in which food and beverage ingredients influence the fate of nanoparticulate food packaging additives should be further explored.…”

The microbial‐killing Ag nanoparticles in food supply chain: How it was applied and what a consumer should know?

“…Although the detected amount was rather low (<10 ng/dm 2 this finding raised concerns associated with the potential intake of this nanomaterial by the consumer. In another study, Yang and coworkers reported that some Ag + ions were found to release from an AgNP/low‐density polyethylene sachet used to store food and beverage (Yang et al., 2021). More worryingly, the Ag + ions further converted to AgNPs upon reacting with the reducing ingredients (such as sugars) in food and beverage.…”

Occurrence of Ethyl Carbamate in Foods and Beverages: Review of the Formation Mechanisms, Advances in Analytical Methods, and Mitigation Strategies

“…Active packaging and nanosensor systems. EC sensor systems are in development for incorporation into polymers, potentially leading to creation of an easy-to-use test material that produces a visible color change upon contact with a target compound (217,218). One potential application for this sensor system is in portable test kits for food inspectors where EC can be detected by mixing a sample (e.g., distilled spirits or wine) with a sensor-enabled test material for rapid analysis.…”