Engineered Nanomaterials In Food Research Articles

CONSUMERS’ AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF NANOFOOD IN MALAYSIA

The integration of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in the food and agriculture industry is now common and rampant among giant food manufacturers to enhance the quality, functionality, and physicality of food products. However, consumers have not been consulted and informed on the use of ENMs in food despite various potential safety and health risks associated with oral exposure of ENMs illustrated from scientific studies. In the European Union, the food law was amended to include provisions on nanotechnology after conducting a public consultation to explore public awareness and perception of nanotechnology. In the absence of a specific regulatory framework for nanofood in Malaysia, this study aims to analyse consumers’ awareness and knowledge of nanofood. The result from the study serves as an invaluable input to the regulatory authority in framing any regulatory reform to regulate nanofood. A survey was conducted using a closed-ended questionnaire distributed online. The result indicates that the awareness and understanding of nanofood are still lacking and not satisfactory.

Evaluation of the cytotoxic and cellular proteome impacts of food-grade TiO2 (E171) using simulated gastrointestinal digestions and a tri-culture small intestinal epithelial model

Engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) are widely used in the food industry; however, regulations for ENMs in food are still in the early stages of development due to insufficient health data. This study investigated the cytotoxicity and changes to the proteomic profile in an in vitro small intestinal epithelium model after exposure to digested food models containing the ubiquitous engineered particulate food additive, TiO2 (E171) with an average size around 110 nm. TiO2 at 0.75% or 1.5% (w/w) concentrations in either a fasting food model (FFM) or a standardized food model (SFM) based on American diet were digested using an in vitro oral-gastric-small intestinal simulator, and the resulting digestas were applied to a small intestinal epithelium tri-culture cellular model. Effects on cell layer integrity, cytotoxicity, and oxidative stress were assessed. In order to explore the impact on cellular processes beyond basic cytotoxicity, mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomic analyses of control and exposed tri-culture cells was performed. TiO2 in FFM, but not in SFM, produced significant, dose-dependent cytotoxicity (24%, p < 0.001), and at the higher dose caused significant oxidative stress (1.24-fold, p < 0.01), indicative of a food matrix effect. No significant perturbations of the cellular proteome were observed with TiO2 in either FFM or SFM food models. However, proteins involved in energy metabolism and protein synthesis were up-regulated by digestas from SFM compared to those from FFM, indicative of a food matrix effect on the cellular proteome. Interestingly, the differences in profiles between the two food models were more pronounced in the presence of TiO2. Together, these results indicate that TiO2 in a fasting diet may be slightly cytotoxic, and that ingested TiO2 does not significantly alter the epithelial proteome, whereas the food matrix alone can have a dramatic effect on the proteome.

Measurement Methods to Detect, Characterize, and Quantify Engineered Nanomaterials in Foods.

This article is one of a series of 4 that reports on a task of the NanoRelease Food Additive project of the International Life Science Institute Center for Risk Science Innovation and Application to identify, evaluate, and develop methods that are needed to confidently detect, characterize, and quantify intentionally produced engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) released from food along the alimentary tract. This particular article focuses on the problem of detecting ENMs in food, paying special attention to matrix interferences and how to deal with them. In this review, an in-depth analysis of the literature related to detection of ENMs in complex matrices is presented. The literature review includes discussions of sampling methods, such as centrifugation and ENM extraction. Available analytical methods, as well as emerging methods, are also presented. The article concludes with a summary of findings and an overview of potential knowledge gaps and targets for method development in this area.

Measurement Methods for the Oral Uptake of Engineered Nanomaterials from Human Dietary Sources: Summary and Outlook.

This article is one of a series of 4 that report on a task of the NanoRelease Food Additive (NRFA) project of the International. Life Science Institute Center for Risk Science Innovation and Application. The project aims are to identify, evaluate, and develop methods that are needed to confidently detect, characterize, and quantify intentionally produced engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) released from food along the alimentary tract. This particular article offers an overview of the NRFA project, describing the project scope and goals, as well as the strategy by which the task group sought to achieve these goals. A condensed description of the general challenge of detecting ENMs in foods and a brief review of available and emerging methods for ENM detection is provided here, paying particular attention to the kind of information that might be desired from an analysis and the strengths and weaknesses of the various approaches that might be used to attain this information. The article concludes with an executive summary of the task group's broad findings related to the 3 topic areas, which are covered in more detail in 3 subsequent articles in this series. The end result is a thorough evaluation of the state of ENM measurement science specifically as it applies to oral uptake of ENMs from human dietary sources.

Progress in The Characterization and Safety Evaluation of Engineered Inorganic Nanomaterials in Food

Nanotechnology has stepped into the food industry, from the farm to the table at home, in order to improve the taste and nutritional value, extend the shelf-life and monitor the food quality. In fact, as consumers we have already been in contact, via oral exposure, with a number of food products containing engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) more often than most people think. However, the fate of ENMs after entering the GI tract of the human body is not yet clearly understood. Hence, the related safety issue is raised, and attracts much attention and wide debate from the public, even including protest demonstrations against nanotechnology in food. In this review, we summarize the up-to-date information about the characterization and safety evaluation of common inorganic ENMs (with a focus on silver, titanium dioxide, silica and zinc oxide nanoparticles) in food. Based on the literature, a whole scenario of the safety issue of these ENMs in food and an outlook on the future studies are given.

Eating Nanomaterials: Cruelty-free and Safe? The EFSA Guidance on Risk Assessment of Nanomaterials in Food and Feed

Nanomaterials are increasingly being added to food handling and packaging materials, or directly, to human food and animal feed. To ensure the safety of such engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), in May 2011, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a guidance document on Risk assessment of the application of nanoscience and nanotechnologies in the food and feed chain. It states that risk assessment should be performed by following a step-wise procedure. Whenever human or animal exposure to nanomaterials is expected, the general hazard characterisation scheme requests information from in vitro genotoxicity, toxicokinetic and repeated dose 90-day oral toxicity studies in rodents. Numerous prevailing uncertainties with regard to nanomaterial characterisation and their hazard and risk assessment are addressed in the guidance document. This article discusses the impact of these knowledge gaps on meeting the goal of ensuring human safety. The EFSA's guidance on the risk assessment of ENMs in food and animal feed is taken as an example for discussion, from the point of view of animal welfare, on what level of uncertainty should be considered acceptable for human safety assessment of products with non-medical applications, and whether animal testing should be considered ethically acceptable for such products.