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12/19/2007- In an exclusive interview,
Professor Niels Christian Nielsen, winner of this year's Danisco
Award, shared his thoughts with Stephen Daniells on the rise of
nanotechnology and gave insight on this fascinating new area of
the food industry.
Nanotechnology,
although still only an emerging science, is already being used in
a vast array of products in several industries, including the food
industry.
Based
at the University of Aarhus, Prof. Nielsen's pioneering research
into the field and strong international research profile netted
him this year's Danisco Award. The company said his "introduction
of advanced, scientific and entirely new methods of characterisation
and measuring of food components as well as food intake in living
organisms," was key to their choice.
Prof.
Nielsen, also director of the Danish National Research Foundation's
Centre for Insoluble Protein Structures (inSPIN), played a key role
in establishing Denmark's NanoFood Consortium in 2005.
The
consortium, made up of 12 partners from industry and academia, aims
to ensure the food industry stays competitive by collaborating with
research institutes active in food, nutrition, and nanotechnology.
"We
are having a very good impact on nanoscience in general,"
he said.
What
is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology
refers to the control of matter at an atomic or molecular scale
of between one and 100 nanometres (nm) - that's one millionth of
a millimetre.
Despite
still being in its infancy, current estimates on the value of products
using nanotechnology put it currently in the range of US$7bn. According
to some, the market could be worth as much as $20bn by 2020.
But
there is a long way to go, said Prof. Nielsen. "Nanotechnology
has to mature to a certain level to be part of daily life."
Currently,
nanotech is being used in a range of applications, from the design
of computer chip layouts based on surface science, to design of
new polymers. The main commercial applications using nanotechnology
are in cosmetics and suntan lotions, drug delivery, and surface
coatings - but the potential for food is not small.
NanoFood
Nanotechnology
is already seen by many as a key source of innovation for food products.
Indeed, more 600 nanofood products are already available on the
global market, according to new data from the Helmut Kaiser Consultancy
(HKC).
Moreover,
HKC predicts a change of 40 to 60 per cent in the food industry
by 2015 as a result of nanotechnology.
And,
with players such as Danisco and Arla Foods onboard, Denmark's NanoFood
consortium is making big noises with nanotechnology. While still
limited to Denmark, Prof. Nielsen admits to having a larger ambition.
"Obviously we want to be international," he said.
With
the team assembled, what directions is the research heading?
Prof.
Nielsen sees bioactives - nutritional ingredients that are active
at a physiological level -as an obvious growth area.
Nanotechnology
has potential to protect these valuable compounds as they pass through
the early parts of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, and subsequently
controlling their release and absorption in the gut.
"There
is much more potential than employed currently," he said.
But
applying nanotechnology to ingredients is not limited to nutrition.
"We
could develop nanoparticles to deliver a particular flavour direct
to biological receptors," he said. This is beneficial
because a smaller, targeted amount of flavour could be used.
"But
there are questions here: How do we encapsulate? How do we deliver
and release? All these require a lot of technology," said
Prof. Nielsen.
Packaging
Packaging
is one of the areas of the food industry where the use of nanotechnology
is prominent, including making bottles and packaging lighter and
stronger, with better thermal performance and less gas absorption.
The
Dane is currently looking into the potential of nanotechnology as
biofilms in food. "We're going more into surface related
problems. This is an interesting area," he said.
"By
identifying bacterial adhesion, we can use nanotechnology to prevent
this. It is a basic science approach at an atomic level. If we can
understand the problem at this level, we can prevent bacteria sticking."
In
the wider scientific community, in addition to the production of
lighter and stronger materials, nanotechnology for packaging has
focussed on embedded nanosensors to enable consumers to "read"
the food inside. Sensors are reportedly being developed that will
alert consumers before the food goes rotten, and will provide information
on the nutritional status of packaging contents.
The
area, according to Prof. Nielsen, clearly has much potential but
to say that nanotech could truly revolutionise packaging it is too
soon to say.
(HKC
begs to differ. It says a quarter of the food packaging market,
currently worth $100bn, is expected to go nano in the next decade.)
Note
of caution
There
are some concerns about nanotechnology, particularly in relation
to absorption and reaction, and the possibility of nanoparticles
crossing natural barriers and membranes. But Prof. Nielsen believes
that, overall, the public has a positive, curiosity-driven impression
of it.
"There
are risks and danger. [For the moment] we simply don't know,"
he admitted. "But if we're very careful and balance our research
with awareness to risks, we might influence the development of nanotechnology
to be a safe technology without many of the "negative"
stories known from many other new technologies."
"This
will have to be explored in health-related studies," he said.
"But small particles have other ways of interacting [to larger
particles]"
So
what do we do about this?
"What
you have to do as a scientist is to be aware of the risks, bring
the technology to a level where is can be used and then regulate
the right and the wrong," advised Prof. Nielsen.
He
pointed out that much of the food/drug related nanotechnology used
currently in the iNANO laboratories, like those based on natural
lipids or chitosan, are derived from natural products, and therefore,
in his view, less prone to be harmful than fully synthetic nanoparticles.
However,
nanotechnology remains a regulatory black hole - there are no regulations
or labelling requirements to allow consumers to make an informed
choice at present. This can open the doors for misuse of the nano-buzzword
to brand products with negative side-effects while not being nano.
The European Food Safety Authority has only recently been asked
by the European Commission to deliver a scientific opinion on the
subject.
Breaking
down barriers
"When
I promote nano," said Dr. Nielsen, "I see the
real great benefit is breaking down boundaries, not only between
academia and industry, but also between different disciplines. It
is opening doors for new research and new products (medicine or
food)."
And
by pouring together their respective expertise, thinking small looks
set to produce big things for the food industry.
The
NanoFood Consortium currently includes Aarhus Karlshamn, Arla Foods,
Danisco, Systematic Software Engineering, NanoNord, Danish Institute
of Agricultural Science, Danish Institute for Food and Veterinary
Research, Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) at the University
of Aarhus, Engineering College of Aarhus, Danish Meat Research Institute,
and the Danish Technological Institute.
Stephen
Daniells is the science editor for NutraIngredients.com and FoodNavigator.com.
He has a PhD in chemistry from Queen's University Belfast and has
worked in research in the Netherlands and France.
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