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Nano and food
Dossier: Nanos in food
By AVICENN Team – Last Modified 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 products including those containing nanos whose presence can only be suspected). These nanos added to foodstuffs are mainly intended to improve the appearance of foodstuffs (their color, their texture), to modify the stability or fluidity of products in powder form or to increase the bioavailability of certain nutrients.
At the end of a long collective work to which NGOs supported by AVICENN have contributed, the additive E171 (containing titanium dioxide nanoparticles) has been banned in food in France in 2020, then throughout Europe from 2022.
However, if there is indeed a European framework for nanomaterials in food, everything is still far from being under control, in particular due to insufficient traceability (the r-nano register does not identify finished products containing nanomaterials).
The various product tests carried out by associations or the repression of fraud (DGCCRF) reveal the extent of the problem: very few nanos are labelled. Worse, some would be widely used and “off the radar” because they are covered by the exemption from labeling enjoyed by “processing aids”.
Who benefits from nanos in food, what are the risks to our health, what recommendations have been issued, what are the current or future initiatives in the field? Discover our file that we will complete and update according to the evolution of knowledge: your contributions are welcome!
Our news on the subject
The next nano meetings
- 14th meeting of the “nano and health” dialogue committee
- Organizer: ANSES
- Website : www.anses.fr
- Technical Day
- Organizer: National Metrology and Testing Laboratory (LNE)
- On the agenda: identification of nanomaterials, recent technological innovations in terms of particle size characterization, areas for progress to be considered
- Upcoming program
- Website : www.lne.fr/…
- 8th International Conference on Health Issues for a Responsible Approach to Nanomaterials
- June 5-9, 2023
- Organizer: Commissariat for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies (CEA)
- Website : www.cea.fr/cea-tech/pns/nanosafe/…
A remark, a question? This file produced by AVICENN is intended to be completed and updated. Please feel free to contribute.
This folder was originally created in May 2013.
