Outlook and Challenges of Nanotechnologies for Food Packaging

Abstract

Nanotechnology has been considered to have high potential for food packaging applications very early on. The ability to provide additional consumer benefits through the improvement of key properties of packaging materials and the creation of new functionalities means that the increased use of nanomaterials and nanotechnologies is highly likely. It has however up to now failed to reach the widespread use that was initially expected, mainly because of remaining uncertainties on the safety of these materials during the various stages of their life-cycle, which limit legal and consumer acceptance.This paper aims at presenting the latest developments in the field of nanotechnologies for food packaging applications, describing the legal framework linked to their usage and attempts to clarify the current knowledge of the safety of these materials both for the consumer and the environment.It is shown that particulate migration into foodstuff is absent in many applications, which drastically reduces the potential risk during the use phase of packaging materials, i.e. the exposure of the consumer to nanoparticles. Other release routes are also evaluated, showing that, although safe in normal use conditions, prudence should still be used, especially with regard to release after disposal of the materials.

Six open questions about the migration of engineered nano-objects from polymer-based food-contact materials: a review

“…If ENOs are absorbed in the GI tract they can enter the blood stream and further into organs (SCENIHR 2009;Wyser et al 2016). The liver and spleen seem in many cases to be the major target organs for accumulation of ENOs (De Jong et al 2008;SCENIHR 2009).…”

“…The nanoscale has been defined to refer to the length interval of approximately 1-100 nm (ISO 2015). ENOs can be incorporated into polymers in embedded, fixed or bonded forms (Wyser et al 2016). They can be nanoparticles, nanofibres or nanoplates, as well as sother structures.…”

“…However, they focus on specific aspects, like test methods (Calzolai et al 2012;Noonan et al 2014), safety assessment (Huang et al 2015), market situation and safety regulations (Bumbudsanpharoke & Ko 2015;Hannon et al 2015a), and legal framework (Wyser et al 2016). The scope of this critical review is to give a concise overview of the most relevant aspects of the subject and to identify the major open questions in relation to migration of ENOs from FCMs.…”

Advancements in meat packaging

“…There are concerns about risks of nanomaterials for use with food so many countries are examining regulatory parameters (Bumbudsanpharoke & Ko, 2015). However, particulate migration into foodstuffs does not occur in many applications so the potential risk of exposure to consumers of the nanoparticles is reduced (Wyser, Adams, Avella, Carlander, Garcia, Pieper, Rennen, Schuermans & Weiss, 2016).…”

Low‐density Polyethylene Films Loaded by Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles as a New Active Packaging System against Escherichia coli O157:H7 in Fresh Calf Minced Meat

“…The first mechanism is related to the penetration of hydrogen peroxide (produced at the surface of zinc oxide) to the cell membrane, and consequently, inhibition of cell growth . The second has considered the affinity between microorganism and zinc oxide as the main reason for antibacterial effects of zinc oxide, but the real mechanism is still unclear …”