Irish Report Calls for Regulation of Nanotechnology Applications in Food Industry

A recent FSAI report addresses the application of nanotechnology to the food industry and urges the European Union (EU) to provide a legislative framework for regulating nanotechnology in food.

Citing a general lack of information concerning the purported risks of nanoparticles in food, FSAI recommends the following: (i) “food business operators should conduct risk assessments on all foods involving introduction of new nanoparticles into foods and packaging”; (ii) “legal provisions should be considered at EU level to ensure that food and feed should be re-evaluated in terms of safety whenever the properties are changed/re-engineered to the nanoscale”; (iii) “the FSAI should promote the establishment of a publicly available inventory of
nanotechnology-based food products and food contact materials”; (iv) “urgent consideration should be given to whether additional controls are required on the disposal and/or recycling of nanoparticle-containing food and other materials”; and (v) “food surveillance programmes should include investigation of the potential for nanoparticles . . . to migrate into foods and also to be recycled in the environment and enter the food chain indirectly.”

The report also calls for mandatory labeling of food and food packaging that contain nanoparticles.