Food

Carbon nanoparticles could be ubiquitous to many foods

by Andrew Maynard May 19, 2012

TEM images of carbon particles from foods containing caramelized sugar. Click to see larger image. Source: Palashudding et al. Nanotechnology leads to novel materials, new exposures and potentially unique health and environmental risks – or so the argument goes.  But an increasing body of research is showing that relatively uniformly sized nanometer scale particles are [...]

Read the full article →

Daily Mail Science Reporting – Deconstructed

by Andrew Maynard January 8, 2010

Hype, scare mongering, obfuscation and just plain misinformation – the scientific community are reasonably clear about what they think of Tabloid science reporting much of the time.  So I wasn’t too surprised to see the headline “‘Grey goo’ food laced with nanoparticles could swamp Britain” in today’s Daily Mail, following the release of a new [...]

Read the full article →

UK House of Lords scrutinizes nanotechnology and food

by Andrew Maynard January 7, 2010

Back in February of 2009, the UK House of Lords Science and Technology Committee launched an inquiry into the use of nanotechnology in food products and the food industry.  Chaired by Lord Krebs (the son of Hans Adolf Krebs – best known for describing the mechanisms of energy uptake and release in cells), a small [...]

Read the full article →

What Nanotechnology Can Do for Your Average Donut

by Andrew Maynard March 30, 2009

A guest blog by Dr. Frans Kampers, director of the Wageningen biotechnology center for food and health innovation (BioNT) at the Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands. Using nanotechnology to make food better—it seems like a good idea, but does it have its downsides?  Questions over the safety and wisdom of using nanotech [...]

Read the full article →

Shaking up the nano-food debate

by Andrew Maynard October 20, 2008

Is the RBC Life Sciences® nanotechnology product Slim Shake approved for use by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?  According to the BBC Radio 4 science program Frontiers—broadcast on Monday evening—there may be some doubt.  But I get ahead of myself. The US-based company RBC Life Sciences® sells a range of dietary supplements and [...]

Read the full article →