Nanofoods may change the way we eat

[Jacob]

A little off topic but found it interesting. Maybe they can make em so they target hair follicles. Yeah....

http://www.theroyalgazette.com/apps/pbc ... S/50622010

Nanofoods may change the way we eat


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Tech Tattle by Ahmed ElAmin


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They are two separate and controversial uses of new technologies that are coming your way pretty fast, even to a lovely isle in the middle of the ocean - nanofoods and radio frequency identification tracking (RFID).
I will leave RFID to next weeks column, only because this week it is timelier to look at nanofoods. Yesterday about 80 nanotechnology researchers and food industry representatives wrapped up a two-day meeting at the Nano4food (http://www.nanofood.info) conference in the Netherlands.
Nanotechnology refers to developments on the nanometer scale, usually 0.1 to 100 nanometres. One nanometer equals one thousandth of a micrometer or one millionth of a millimeter.
With nanofoods, enter the era of the modern food technologist.
Nanotechnology can help food processors in two ways, as nanomachines on the processing line ensuring safety and quality, and secondly as a means of creating novel types of foods.

The second application is controversial as technologists are discovering ways to make everyday foods carry medicines and supplements by creating tiny edible capsules, or nanoparticles, that release their contents on demand at targeted spots in the body.

You will hear the scientists talk about functional foods. Such a development has obvious benefits for health and medicine as a delivery system for medicines and nutrients. Nanoparticles embedded in food can judge when food becomes spoiled or even toxic.

The nanoparticles can then send out a signal, say a colour, to let the fridge stasher know that its time is up. Or it could signal the smart package, one riddled with nanoparticles, to send the message.

On the processing line nano sensors and diagnostic robots can help ensure food does not leave the factory with contaminants. Nanomachines can also help processors detect harmful microbes and determine the shelf life for their foods. Fine scale detection could help food processors make strategic decisions, such as the best transportation method for their products and storage methods. Frans Kampers, the programme manager of bio-nanotechnology at Wageningen University, told me research in the creation of foods imbedded with nanoparticles that will make the public to sit up and take notice.

Wageningen University and research firm Cientifica are co-organisers of the Nano4food conference, held in Wageningen, the Netherlands on the 20 and 21 June.

Researchers generally refer to nanofoods as being embedded with either soft particles, those using common biological materials or with hard particles, made up of non-organic substances.

We are confident that some of the soft particle nanofoods are really harmless, Kampers said. The body is accustomed to soft particles. They look like normal cells that the body knows about.

The work is more speculative with hard particles. The body is not used to processing such substances so tiny, nanoparticles exhibit different chemical behaviour than would normally be found in larger masses of material. Quantum mechanics, the behaviour of particles and surfaces at the microscopic level, comes into play.

We do not really know exactly how these nanoparticles go through different routes in the body and where they end up, he said. We need more research about the effects on food and on the body.

There are examples of nano foods on the market or just about to go on to the market. So far regulators and you should be watching this area.

For example Campina released a milk product with a nanoparticle that insured calcium was boosted into the body faster. The drink was marketed for the elderly and had benefits. But it was taken off the market due to a lack of interest. NutraLease, another company, has developed novel carriers for nutraceuticals, including lycopene, beta-carotene, lutein and phytosterols.

The product, Nutralease helps increase the transport of nutrients through gut membranes and the bloodstream. NutraLeases carriers combine nano-sized, self-assemblies, and naturally occurring aggregated macromolecules dispersed in water with nutraceuticals, says a report by Israel Life Science Industry (http://www.ilsi.org.il).

It all sounds exciting and scary at the same time. Lets hope big bugs do not sway government to relax food regulations somewhat. So many countries are competing to become leaders in the field.

Big bucks are already being spent. German consultant Helmut Kaiser forecasts $2.6 billion will be spent in developing nanofoods this year, rising to $7 billion next year and to $20.4 billion in 2010.

About 200 companies around the world are currently active in nanofood research and development, including the big boys - Nestle, Kraft, Unilever, General Mills.
- Next week: Keep your eye on RFID or someone may soon be keeping an eye on you.
Go to http://www.SecureBermuda.com for computer security updates. You can contact Ahmed ElAmin at ahmed.elamin@wanadoo.fr.