Nano and food
Dossier: Nanos in food
By the AVICENN team – Last modification January 2023
In 2020, ANSES had identified more than 900 food products in which the presence of nanos is proven (the figure rises to 4,300 products including those where the presence of nanos can only be suspected). These nanos added in foodstuffs are mainly intended to improve the appearance of food (color, texture), to modify the stability or fluidity of products in powder form or to increase the bioavailability of certain nutrients.
At the end a long collective work involving NGOs supported by AVICENN, the additive E171 (containing nanoparticles of titanium dioxide) was banned in food in France in 2020, then in all Europe in 2022.
However, if there is a European regulation for nanomaterials in food, everything is still far from being under control, especially because of insufficient traceability (the r-nano register does not identify finished products containing nanomaterials).
The various product tests carried out by associations or the fraud control department (DGCCRF) reveal the extent of the problem: very few nanos are labeled. Worse, some of them could be widely used and “off the radar” because they are covered by the labeling exemption for “technological adjuvants”.
Who benefits from nanos in food, what are the risks for our health, what recommendations have been issued, what are the current or future initiatives in the field? Discover our information sheets that we will complete and update as knowledge evolves: your contributions are welcome!
Other news on the topic
Upcoming Nano Agenda
- Webinar presenting the example guide produced by NanoMesureFrance, to illustrate the difficulties encountered in dimensional analysis of particles by electron and atomic force microscopy.
- Organizers: Eurotox
- Speaker: Carola Voss (Helmholtz Zentrum München)
- Registration form
- MOOC from April 28 to June 22, 2025
- Public who has carried out two or more years of scientific studies at university, as well as professionals or the self-educated who want to discover, learn more or acquire specific knowledge in some area of nanoscience.
- Organizer: Paris Saclay University
- Course paln:
- Theme 1: Introduction to nanoscience and nanotechnology – Let’s lay the foundations and discover the key concepts of this field.
- Theme 2: How can you “see” and fabricate nano-objects? We will discover what tools are used to observe matter at these scales and what techniques the scientist can use to make objects that are only a few billionths of a meter in size.
- Theme 3: Nanochemistry – From carbon to porous solids and nanoparticle synthesis; applications of the field.
- Theme 4: Nanophysics – Quantum effects and nanoelectronic devices; optical nanostructures: the confinement of light and emission; nanosensors; applications of the field.
- Theme 5: Nanobiology, Nanomedicine, Micro-nanofluidics – The study and manipulation of molecules; treating diseases with nanomedicine; the on-chip manipulation of liquids for medical diagnosis; applications of the field.
- Theme 6: Nanoscience and Society: Are Nanotechnologies dangerous? Societal, health and environmental issues.
- Website: www.fun-mooc.fr/en/courses/understanding-nanosciences
- E-learning program: awareness-raising for personnel who come into contact with nanomaterials during research, formulation, production, maintenance, cleaning, upkeep, etc., as well as safety coordinators or engineers, facility managers, heads of laboratories where nanoparticles are handled.
- Organizers: INSTN Grenoble (CEA)
- On the program:
- 1 – Introduction, definition and characteristics of nanomaterials
- 2 – Toxicity of nanomaterials: the state of knowledge
- 3 – Metrology and characterization of nanomaterials
- 4 – Prevention and protection against nanomaterials in the workplace
- 5 – Quiz: assessment of learning outcomes
- The 2-hour course can be viewed for one month from the date of registration.
- Website: https://instn.cea.fr/…risques-lies-aux-nanomateriaux…
Any questions or comments? This information sheet compiled by AVICENN is intended to be completed and updated. Please feel free to contribute.
This file was originally created in May 2013.