Nanomaterials in Food – Prioritisation & Assessment

Abstract

Nanomaterials (NMs) are of significant economic interest and have a huge impact on many industries including the food industry. The main application in food industry includes food additives and food packaging. However, the effects of NMs on human health are highly discussed, as well as the need of harmonised analytical methods and risk assessment methodologies. In line with these discussions, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (ANSES) has started in 2017 a 2‐year project focusing on NMs in food, to which the fellow was involved under the framework of the European Food Risk Assessment Fellowship Programme (EU‐FORA). This technical report contains a description of the working program, the aims and the activities to which the fellow was involved during this placement. The main aims of the programme were to be involved in different steps of risk assessment process, to improve knowledge regarding food process, analytical and toxicological methods and to learn how to conduct expert assessments. All aims were linked with different kind of activities. Gaining hands‐on experience on food risk assessment was achieved mainly by collecting occurrence data and performing exposure assessment calculations for the ‘of concern’ NMs, while scheduled visits to laboratories specialising in analytical methods of nanoparticles and toxicological studies helped to improve knowledge in these fields. Regular participation in the Working Group (GT) related to NMs in food and interaction with experts within ANSES facilitated the learning process of how to conduct collective expertise as well as to be further trained in risk assessment processes. Furthermore, apart from knowledge gained in risk assessment and NMs, the fellow was able to obtain transferable skills and knowledge that can be used to increase the scientific capacity of the fellow's home institute as well as to expand her scientific network, which could lead to collaboration opportunities in the future well beyond this fellowship.

Validating Enteroid-Derived Monolayers from Murine Gut Organoids for Toxicological Testing of Inorganic Particles: Proof-of-Concept with Food-Grade Titanium Dioxide

“…Given the increased evidence of the general population’s exposure to inorganic particles from various environmental sources (atmospheric ultrafine particles, livestock contamination by ground and feed, food additives, processing aids, personal care products, and pharmaceuticals) and the routes of exposure (airways, oral, and dermal), assessing the variety of toxicological impacts caused by these inorganic substances as part of the human exposome represents a complex challenge. For example, studies on food-related inorganic particles, such as certain food additives (mainly colouring and anti-caking agents), have highlighted the need for a permanent re-evaluation of their safety to human health, with a number of recent studies depicting new potential hazards, partly due to the presence of NPs in their composition [ 53 , 54 , 55 ]. This often requires long-term exposure carried out in vivo using rodent models, and cell lines of various organs including those that form barriers between the body and the environment, such as the intestine.…”

Food Quality and Safety: Advances in Analytical Methods and Applications

“…The Special Issue is "virtually" open by a review on metrological issues and regulation in the European Union with a specific focus on contaminants such as mycotoxins [42], contaminants of emerging concern [43], nanomaterials [44], official controls of process contaminants [45], metrology for food safety (e.g., method validation), proficiency testing [46,47], reference materials [48] and illustrating the METROFOOD-RI [49].…”

Advancements in Biodegradable Active Films for Food Packaging: Effects of Nano/Microcapsule Incorporation

“…The encapsulated particles are divided into three main classes that differ in size, namely, macrocapsules (with a size of more than 5000 µm), microcapsules (0.2–5000 µm), and nanocapsules (with a size of less than 0.2 µm). According to EU regulation, nanoparticles are attributed to the particles when at least 50% of the particles have a size of ≤100 nm [ 296 ], whereas pharmaceutical science considers nano size for particles with a size of less than 1000 nm.…”

“…Eliminating legislative restrictions and creating a unique global organization would allow for more specific and exact legislation for food-contact materials. Meanwhile, the use of nanotechnology in the antimicrobial and antioxidant food packaging films requires the control and monitoring of nanomaterials as well as risk assessment, which requires information about their toxicity and exposure [ 296 ]. In line with this, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has recently produced guidance for the risk assessment of nanoscience and nanotechnology applications in the food and feed chain [ 320 ].…”