Review Published of Nanomaterials for Products and Application in Agriculture, Feed, and Food in the European Union

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) requested a review of the already marketed and in-development applications of nanomaterials in the agri/feed/food sectors.  The results of the review are published in the August 2016 issue of Trends in Food Science & Technology in an article entitled “Nanomaterials for products and application in agriculture, feed and food.”  The article highlights include:

• Nanotechnology is applied in agricultural production, animal feed, food processing, additives, and food contact materials;
• Nano-encapsulates, silver, titanium dioxide, and silica are the most often mentioned nanomaterials in the literature;
• A comparison between marketed and in-development applications indicates a trend moving from inorganic to organic nanomaterials; and
• Nanotechnology is an enabling technology, therefore product description should contain the function of a nanomaterial in the product.