Food-related Industries Research Articles

Size-Dependent Modulation of Polydopamine Nanospheres on Smart Nanoprobes for Detection of Pathogenic Bacteria at Single-Cell Level and Imaging-Guided Photothermal Bactericidal Activity

Pathogenic bacterial fouling in agriculture and food-associated products poses mounting food safety concerns today. Efficient integration of precise tracking and on-demand bacterial killing to achieve the source control of pathogenic bacteria at the single-cell level is one of the most valuable antifouling methods for safeguarding food safety but remains unexplored. Here, we report an all-in-one design strategy as a proof of concept to establish a stimuli-responsive nanoprobe PDANSs-FAM-Apt for the detection of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) at the single-cell level, which could be capable of guiding the on-demand photothermal killing of bacteria upon near-infrared (NIR) light irradiation. By examining the size-dependent modulation of the fluorescence resonance energy transfer efficiency to polydopamine nanospheres (PDANSs), PDANSs-FAM-Apt was finally assembled by 6-carboxyfluorescein-terminated S. aureus, binding the aptamer (FAM-Apt) and PDANSs at ∼258 nm through π-π stacking interactions. As a result, PDANSs-FAM-Apt exhibits a remarkable fluorescence enhancement (∼261-fold) to S. aureus with a satisfactory detection limit of 1.0 cfu/mL, allowing for assay at the single-cell level and thus ultralow background fluorescence imaging of S. aureus as well as its biofilms. Moreover, PDANSs-FAM-Apt shows a high photothermal bactericidal property upon NIR light irradiation, endowing it with the strong capacity to efficiently produce heat for destroying S. aureus and its biofilms with the guidance of imaging results. This work emphasizes the versatility of using the combination of stimuli-responsive fluorescence imaging dependent on the PDANS size modulation and NIR light-activated photothermal antibacterial activity to design stimuli-responsive nanoprobes with an improved precision for pathogenic bacteria monitoring and source controlling, which opens a promising antifouling avenue to eliminate bacteria and disrupt bacterial biofilms in agriculture and food-related industries.

A social innovation perspective on business model improvement in food related industries

Food sector sustainability should not be discussed solely through an economic lens. On the contrary, social forces are critical in motivating and practicing high-quality food production and distribution in the supply chain context. This opinion addresses food sector imperatives from the social innovation perspective to preliminarily comment on social innovation’s potential influences on food production, distribution, and safety. Preliminary though, the purpose and contribution of this opinion paper are both stimulating future imagination in theory and practices for utilizing social innovation for food safety and sustainability. The main opinions are the employment of resources, sustainable development of resources, generation of finances and diversifying the talent pool for social innovative initiatives that promote food safety.

Techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment for energy generation from sugarcane bagasse: Case study for a sugar mill in Mexico

The use of alternative energy that is economically favorable for power generation is not a new issue, but the need to transit to a new energy low carbon pool is growing and replacing the use of fossil fuels stepwise by other cleaner energies, like bioenergy. The production of sugarcane and derivatives is a high energy intensive industry that has partially replaced the use of fossil fuels in the sugar mills, in order to diminish operational costs and improving the performance due to cogeneration capabilities. Nevertheless, there are few techno-economic analysis derived from the substitution of fossil fuels by biomass in energy cogeneration together with environmental impacts. In this work, we compare the techno-economical implementation and attributional life cycle analysis of a sugar production process using fuel oil or sugarcane bagasse for energy cogeneration of a sugar mill located in southern Mexico. The results favor the use of sugar cane bagasse with a bagasse processing capacity of 2852t per day when compared to the use of fuel oil. The first shows a cost per unit of energy produced of 5.5 vs. 14 USD/GJ for fuel oil; and a potential environmental impact index of 2528 vs. 20,200 PEI/GJ for the latter. The use of solid biofuels derived from wastes in food-related industries, such as sugar production, can support positive synergies at the environmental-water-food-energy nexus.

Gurum (Citrullus lanatus var. Colocynthoide) seed: lipid, amino acid, mineral, proximate, volatile compound, sugar, vitamin composition and functional properties

Gurum (Citrullus lanatus var. Colocynthoide) seed was evaluated for lipid, amino acid, mineral, proximate, sugar, vitamin composition, volatile compound and functional characteristics in seeking to identify nutritious plant containing a higher amount of nutrients that can be employed in food related industries. The gurum seed was found to be rich in fat (33.05%), crude fiber (26.42%), protein (18.55%), carbohydrates (14.41%), and ash (3.40%) and it has sufficient amino acids content. The gurum seed was found to have a higher content of minerals with potassium 2116.83 mg/100 g among highest followed by sodium 461.23 mg/100 g and magnesium 405.63 mg/100 g. Calcium, zinc, iron, copper and manganese are also present in a significant amount. Gurum seeds could be used as an affluent source of vitamins, mainly B6 and B9 with the amounts of 11.37 and 9.24 mg/100 g respectively, while sucrose constituted 41.5% of the all sugars. Oil of gurum seed has an altitude amount of unsaturated fatty acids, with C18:2 and C18:1 as the major acids, whereas, triglycerides as a major component of lipid classes. The gurum seed showed water absorption 3.46 mL /g and oil absorption 2.39 mL/g. The foaming capacity, stability of foam and emulsifying capacity were 18.5%, 16.55%, and 44.2%, respectively. 49 volatile compounds from the extract of gurum seeds were identified; with organic acids as a prime component. This study has shown the potentials of gurum seed, a by-product with a high nutritional value to provide sufficient economic resourceful raw material alternative to food industrial firms.

Commercially Available Essential Oil Formulas as Repellents Against the Stored-Product Pest Alphitobius diaperinus.

The main aim of the presented paper is to assess the potential repellent effect of selected essential oils (EOs) against the lesser mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus), which can cause economic losses in storage and in the poultry industry. Due to the development of pesticide resistance in A. diaperinus populations, as well as an attempt to limit extensive use of potentially harmful pesticides in food-related industries, there is a strong need for the development of alternative methods of dealing with A. diaperinus infestations. Because of their cost-effectiveness, availability and low vertebrate toxicity, EOs are promising agents in pest management. In the presented paper four off-the-shelf EOs: mint, vanilla, lemon and citronella (and mixtures of them) were tested as potential repellents. Moreover, a novel preference assay, providing an extended analysis of the preference and the locomotor response, was used. The most effective EOs were: citronella and lemon. EOs mixtures were generally more repellent than individual EOs, with the lemon and vanilla 1:1 mixture acting as the strongest repellent. A few of the tested EOs caused significant alterations to the locomotor activity, although no direct relation was observed. In conclusion, EOs can be potentially used as repellent agents in A. diaperinus management. Additionally, data on the locomotor activity may lead to designing better push-pull strategies in pest management.

Oil yields, protein contents, and cost of manufacturing of oil obtained from different hybrids and sowing dates of canola

Three hybrids of canola were cultivated in Brazil submitted to three sowing dates in 2018: April 21 (early autumn), May 20 (mid-autumn), and June 24 (late autumn). The samples were harvested and the grain yields were measured. Thereafter, canola oil was extracted by Soxhlet with n-Hexane and by supercritical CO2 (SFE-CO2) following a completely randomized design. The following responses were evaluated: oil yields, oil composition, protein contents, and cost of manufacturing of oil. The highest grain yield was 2807 kg ha−1 and the highest oil yield was 34.7 wt.%. The main fatty acids identified in the oil were oleic acid (46.4–57.5 wt.%), linoleic acid (10.6–15.2 wt.%), and α-linolenic acid (5.8–8.1 wt.%). The highest protein content in the solid coproducts was 38.2 wt.%. Furthermore, the cost of manufacturing (COM) of oil was simulated for a pilot/industrial scale dedicated to processing 180 kg of seeds per batch. The COM of oil ranged from US$ 7.60 kg-1 to US$ 11.96 kg-1 (SFE-CO2) and from US$ 1.13 kg-1 to US$ 1.47 kg-1 (Soxhlet), respectively. After an integrated evaluation of technological and economic responses, the hybrid Hyola 61 sown on May 20 seems to be the most suitable condition for being cultivated by farmers and for being processed by food-related industries.

Inter-regional spillover of China's sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution across the supply chains

Inter-regional spillover of air pollution can be regarded as a mixture of economic externalities and long-distance transport. To comprehensively reveal this problem, a new consumption-based sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission inventory in 2010 for 30 provincial regions of China was compiled by introducing source-receptor relationship (SRR) model to integrate the spillover impacts of physical transport from the emitter (producer) region to the receptor region and virtual transfer from the driver (consumer) region to the emitter region. Compared the emissions induced by final regional demand with the emissions received in seven regions of China, Southern (0.59 Mt), Northern (0.25 Mt), Northwestern (0.18 Mt), and Eastern (0.14 Mt) areas outsourced SO2 pollution in the mass, whereas Central (−0.66 Mt), Northeastern (−0.42 Mt), and Southwestern (−0.08 Mt) areas took excessive environmental burdens in 2010. The four municipalities, Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tianjin as well as the most affluent province Guangdong showed significant pollution transfer after an overall assessment of their roles in drivers, emitters and receptors. Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Guizhou, Henan, and Shandong showed the largest co-benefits of SO2 emissions control for climate change mitigation. Japan was found to receive more portions of transboundary SO2 deposition than its market shares in China's export instead of other major trade partners of China. As a mega-city, Beijing induced significant SO2 emissions for power requirement, food consumption, miscellaneous services, and her vibrant research activities through the sectors of the power industry, coal mining, chemical manufacturing, food-related industries, petroleum processing and coking, but 86% of those emissions were outsourced by Beijing. In total, the spillover of SO2 emissions induced by Beijing was estimated at 0.20 Mt, 76 times more than its own share as a receptor across the supply chains. This study is competent for an analytic framework of strategic planning for joint prevention and control of air pollution in China and other countries. The results can help reduce pollution transfer, properly tax on drivers, effectively control the emitters, and reasonably compensate the receptors.

Biosurfactants from probiotic bacteria: A review.

Among microorganisms, bacteria are the main group of biosurfactant-producing organisms. Different types of bacteria including Pseudomonas sp., Acinetobacter sp., Bacillus sp., and Arthrobacter sp. are among the most commonly studied bacteria in the realm of scientific research. However, due to the pathogenic nature of the producing organisms, the application of these compounds is restricted, therefore, not suitable for use in food-related industries. Given that probiotic bacteria impact human health, applying probiotics as nonpathogenic and safe organisms have gained much attention for the production of biosurfactants in recent years. Most biosurfactants obtained from probiotic bacteria are related to a number of lactic acid bacteria (LAB). These types of biosurfactants are classified based on their structures as protein-carbohydrate complexes, lipids, or fatty acids. The present paper seeks to provide comprehensive and useful information about the production of various kinds of biosurfactants by different probiotic bacteria. In addition, we have extensively reviewed their potential for possible future applications.

Sustainable Supply Chain Management Practices and Sustainability Performance in the Food Industry

Sustainable development has recently been identified as a challenge for many countries and has become a vital issue for food-related industries. This study of sustainable supply chain management practices and sustainability performance in the food industry was conducted at food companies in Iran. Data were gathered from 120 companies by means of a questionnaire; confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to test the questionnaire's validity. Hypotheses were tested by path analysis. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicate that sustainable supply chain management practices impact on the environmental, economic, and social dimensions of sustainability. Based on these findings, there is a need to improve sustainable supplier management practices, sustainable operations management practices and sustainable customer management practices in order to advance sustainability performance in the supply chain. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA

Business Area Changes and Entrepreneurial Persistence in Ecology- and Food-Related Industries: Knowledge Heterogeneity and Emotion Perspectives

Entrepreneurs’ changes to different business areas can be viewed as shifts in entrepreneurial knowledge domains (e.g., from restaurant to food waste processing firm as an ecological helping business). From a sample of 73 representative entrepreneurs, we present a study of the impact of such area changes on the persistence of entrepreneurship (i.e., the degree an entrepreneur remains in entrepreneurial activities). Furthermore, two mediators, managerial experience and insecurity, and two moderators, positive and negative affect, were proposed and examined to make a more comprehensive theoretical inference of the relationship between area difference and persistence. The results revealed that, counter-intuitively, area difference was significantly and positively associated with entrepreneurial persistence. The mediation effects of managerial experience and psychological insecurity were also confirmed. However, only the moderation of positive affect was effective. Based on the knowledge heterogeneity and entrepreneurial emotion perspectives, academic and practical implications for inter-temporal dynamics of entrepreneurship are discussed.

Systematic assessment of Pichia pastoris system for optimized β -galactosidase production

β- Galactosidase (commonly known as β-lactase; EC 3.2.1.23) is a multifunctional enzyme that can catalyze the hydrolysis of terminal non-reducing β-d-galactose residues in β-d-galactosides or transfer the galactosyl residue to saccharide acceptors to yield galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS). β-Galactosidase has a variety of applications in food and medical industries such as hydrolysis of lactose in milk, manufacture of galactooligosaccharides (GOS) and treatment of lactose malabsorption [1]. Although β-galactosidase is an ubiquitous enzyme existing in plants, animals and microorganisms, only a few β-galactosidases from Kluveromyces lactis, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus oryzae are regarded as safe for food related industry applications. To achieve commercial scale production of β-galactosidase, heterologous expression systems were applied including Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris [1]. P. pastoris is a methylotrophic yeast with great protein expression potential, and has been used as host for expression of many proteins both experimentally and industrially. P. pastoris has also been used for the extracellular expression of β-galactosidase from Paecilomyces aerugineus [2], Lactobacillus crispatus [3] and strains belonging to Aspergillus spp [4]. Despite its advantage in expression of proteins, P. pastoris system usually needs to be optimized to achieve maximum possible production level for a given protein. In achieving this, potential expression bottlenecks are analyzed and alleviated through perturbing and engineering of P. pastoris at different levels. And this process is often performed in a protein-specific manner, depending on the inherent nature and applications of target protein as well as its interaction with P. pastoris host. Take β-galactosidase for example, while some previous works have reported its successful expression in P. pastoris with reasonably high level, there are still several concerns needing to be addressed before further optimization, for instance: 1) Which kind of promoters are suitable to express β-galactosidase, the inducible or constitutive promoters? The strong AOX1 (alcohol oxidase I) promoter has been the most frequently used one. Nevertheless, the adoption of constitutive promoters has been appreciated in recent years because it does not need methanol to induce the expression, and therefore is safer (especially for food-grade β-galactosidase production) and eases the process control during the fermentation. 2) Unexpected N-glycosylation of foreign proteins are very commonly observed in P. pastoris system and its effects on the activity of expressed proteins remain unpredictable. In some cases, glycosylation is essential for maintaining the activities of expressed enzymes [5], [6], [7], while in other cases, glycosylation can negatively affect the enzyme activity [8], [9], [10]. Although β-galactosidase possesses multiple potential N-glycosylation sites, the effects of N-glycosylation on β-galactosidase activity were rarely investigated. 3) Of thousands of proteins that have been expressed using P. pastoris, the protein expression levels can range from tens of milligrams to tens of grams per liter. β-galactosidase can easily reach several grams per liter of production, which is obviously near the high end of this range. This raises the concern that the high enzyme yield may saturate the protein secretion ability of P. pastoris and thus limit the further improvement of its production level. In order to address the above concerns and systematically assess P. pastoris system for optimized β-galactosidase, we expressed β-galactosidase from K. lactis and A. oryzae in P. pastoris, evaluated different constitutive promoters in addition to AOX1 promoter and examined co-expression of different chaperones in hope of enhancing the secretion of β-galactosidase in P. pastoris. We equally assess the effect of glycosylation on β-galactosidase activity using OCH1 disrupted strain. Combining these strategies, the production level of β-galactosidase from A. Oryzae reached 1434.75 U/mL in 1 L fermentor, which therefore provided a basis for further optimization and industrial scale production of β-galactosidase in future works.

Characteristics and Rheological Properties of Polysaccharide Nanoparticles from Edible Mushrooms (Flammulina velutipes).

Nanotechnology has become relevant in the food-related industries, and edible mushrooms can be a potential raw material for providing satisfied edible nanomaterial. In this study, by following 3 different pretreatments (hot water or cold alkali or hot alkali) insoluble polysaccharide nanoparticles were prepared from Flammulina velutipes by wet milling and high pressure homogenization and their properties were investigated. The resultant nanoparticles were characterized by SEM, GC-MS (for its main compositions), FTIR, XRD, and TG. The 1 wt% nanoparticle dispersions presented non-Newtonian, shear-thinning fluids with the viscosity in an increasing order for the hot water < cold alkali < hot alkali. Moreover, the dynamical rheological results showed differences of storage (G') and loss (G″) moduli of these particle dispersions. It was concluded that the Flammulina velutipes-derived polysaccharides nanoparticles have great potential applications in the food industry, for example, as emulsifiers, reinforcement agents, and bioactive carriers.

Yield, composition, and antioxidant activity of avocado pulp oil extracted by pressurized fluids

Avocado pulp oil was extracted by supercritical CO2 and compressed liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The influence of pressure and temperature on the yield, kinetic parameters, composition and antioxidant activity was evaluated. Compressed LPG at 293K and 0.5MPa provided 60wt.% oil at 10min. Supercritical CO2 at 313K and 25MPa provided 40wt.% oil at 150min. The compressed LPG proportionated higher extraction rates and lower solvent consumptions. Stigmasterol (0.9–6.8%), lycopersene (1.4–6.0%), palmitic acid (26.2–29.3%), oleic acid (54.5–59.5%) and linoleic acid (11.9–13.0%) were identified, being the highest concentrations found in the oil obtained by compressed LPG. For the antioxidant activity, the supercritical CO2 provided higher performance than compressed LPG: 82.5% (CO2) and 31.6% (LPG) inhibition of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical. These results highlight the possibility of using pressurized fluids to obtain a functional oil of interest for food-related industries.

Distribution of phenolic content and screening for antioxidant capacity of different parts of tea plant (Camellia sinensis L.)

Tea is a medicinal beverage manufactured from the plant, Camellia sinensis L. The bud and two adjacent leaves (tea flush) are generally harvested in this process. Currently, it is also used as an ingredient in cosmetic products. The present study was carried out to screen the antioxidant activity and the distribution of phenolic content in different parts of the tea plant for their utilization in other industries. The parts of C. sinensis L. used were tea flush, leaves, branches, seed, pericarp and root. Total phenolic content and antioxidant properties of the aqueous extracts were determined by Folin-Denis method and DPPH assay, respectively. The DPPH scavenging capacity in descending order was bud and first two leaves (tea flush)>tender leaves>mature leaves>seed=pericarp>tender branches>mature branches>root. There was no significant difference between tender leaves and the tea bud with two leaves regarding antioxidant activity. The phenolic content was highest in tea flush and least in root. The antioxidant capacity of the different parts were significantly correlated (r2=0.91; p<0.0001) with their polyphenolic content. Independent of the part of the plant, polyphenols are the principal constituents which are responsible for antioxidant capacity. Tender leaves just below the tea flush cannot be disregarded in cosmetic or food related industries. Key words: Camellia sinensis L., phenolic content, antioxidant potential, tea.

당류 저감화에 대한 소비자 인식 및 태도

This study attempted to investigate consumer perceptions and attitudes towards reducing sugar intake by providing data to develop guidelines for the government and food-related industries to encourage Korean consumers to maintain appropriate levels of sugar intake. A survey was conducted on 238 adult consumers regarding their purchasing power for products with high sugar content in Seoul and Bundang, Gyeonggi area from September 1∼30, 2013. Nutritional information on sugary products had a greater impact than media and others recommendations on consumer awareness regarding need to reduce sugar intake. External factors such as health and weight control were stronger reasons for consuming reduced amounts of sugar or sugar-free products than internal factors such as sweetness. However, internal factors－such as taste－did not have a greater effect on consuming reduced amounts of sugar or sugar-free products than environmental factors－such as absence of purchase channels. Consumers indicated higher acceptance for 50% reduction in sweetness of existing commercial products. Regarding methods of lowering sugar intake, sugar replacement and reducing sugar consumption both generally and at home were preferred. In addition, consumers were likely to pay 10∼14% more for sugar-reduced products than for existing products. Overall, consumers expressed positive attitudes towards reducing sugar intake in the future, although those in their twenties tended to be more passive than other age groups.

Multivariate Key Performance Indicator of Baking Process

Energy efficiency is nowadays a subject deeply discussed in several fields, with a large potential in industry. Here proper process and energy management routines turns out to be essential to reduce the energy demand while keeping the control of the product quality. In this respect the bread baking, one of the pillar of food related industry, is an energy intensive process irrespective to the adopted oven technology or to the primary energy nature. Baking is the fundamental step of the bread production process and it entails a number of complex chemical and physical phenomena, critical to the final physical properties of bread, i.e. crust colour, crumb texture and taste. A careful balance throughout all the steps of the “manufacturing” cycle is vital to ensure the processes synchronization, in order to produce a consistent and satisfactory loaf of bread. A proper energy management of this process needs to consider such features to ensure a high quality product. As such process monitoring can not be conveniently described using customary specific energy metric (correlating the energy demand to the amount of processed material) or full three-dimensional (3D) physic-based modeling as in computational fluid dynamics (CFD).In this paper, the energy analysis of the system is carried out with a methodology rooted in the family of non parametric approaches. The aim of the study is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) able to assess the effectiveness of the energy “use” along the baking process. Specifically, the identification of KPIs is carried out using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the available datasets.

Estimating Occupational Illness, Injury, and Mortality in Food Production in the United States: A Farm-to-Table Analysis.

The study provides a novel model and more comprehensive estimates of the burden of occupational morbidity and mortality in food-related industries, using a farm-to-table approach. The authors analyzed 2008 to 2010 US Bureau of Labor Statistics data for private industries in the different stages of the farm-to-table model (production, processing, distribution and storage, and retail and preparation). The morbidity rate for food system industries was significantly higher than the morbidity rate for nonfood system industries (rate ratio = 1.62; 95% confidence interval = 1.30 to 2.01). Furthermore, the occupational mortality rate for food system industries was significantly higher than the national nonfood occupational mortality rate (rate ratio = 9.51; 95% confidence interval = 2.47 to 36.58). This is the first use of the farm-to-table model to assess occupational morbidity and mortality, and these findings highlighting specific workplace hazards across food system industries.

Sweet Potato Production for Bio-ethanol and Food Related Industry in Indonesia: Challenges for Sustainability

As an underground crop, tuberous root of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) is the main economical yield expected from various level of cultivation. Aside rich in carbohydrate, sweet potato root contains vitamin and mineral. The degree of utilization reflects the level of subsistence to commercialization, where the desire or needs can be easily met was defined as prosperity. Supplying continuously the demand of sweet potato for subsistence and commercialization oriented to bio-ethanol and food related industries depend on the sustainable production system. To sustain sweet potato production system, the severe biotic and a-biotic stresses have to be alleviated.

Safety of nanotechnology in food industries.

The arrival of nanotechnology in various industries has been so rapid and widespread because of its wide-ranging applications in our daily lives. Nutrition and food service is one of the biggest industries to be affected by nanotechnology in all areas, changing even the nature of food itself. Whether it’s farming, food packaging, or the prevention of microbial contamination the major food industries have seen dramatic changes because of nanotechnology. Different nanomaterials such as nanopowders, nanotubes, nano-fibers, quantum dots, and metal and metal-oxide nanoparticles are globally produced in large quantities due to their broad applicability in food-related industries. Because of the unique properties of nanostructures and nanomaterials – such as a large surface area, high activity, and small size, there is some concern about the potential for harmful adverse effects of used nanomaterials on health or the environment. However, because of tremendous advances in different industries, this concern may be unnecessary. This paper presents some uses of nanomaterials in food and related industries and their possible side-effects. This review covers the various aspects of nanomaterials and their impact on human exposure, safety, and environmental concerns.

Scientific basis of nanotechnology, implications for the food sector and future trends

Nanotechnologies are opening up new horizons in almost all scientific and technological fields. Among these, applications of nanotechnologies are expected to bring large benefits and add value to the food and food-related industries through the whole food chain, from production to processing, safety, packaging, transportation, storage and delivery. Nanotechnology consists in the realization and manipulation of nano-sized matter, the unique properties of which with respect to their bulk counterparts are illustrated and discussed. Then, the main tools and techniques routinely used in nanotechnology for the nanoscale characterization of food matrices as well as for the analytical determination of nanomaterials in food samples are reviewed. Finally, safety and risk assessment issues are discussed and an overview of applications of nanotechnology to the food sector is provided along with a description of the current regulatory framework.