Five out of ten of the world’s largest food companies are aggressively explo

Five out of ten of the world’s largest food companies are aggressively exploring the potential of nanotechnology for better packaging, improved food safety and better nutritional content.
    The food industry is moving faster than any other sector to embrace nanotech-nolo-gy—the manufacture of objects so small that they cannot be seen even with a conventional microscope—and it is estimated that it will be incorporated into $ 20 billion worth of food products by 2010.
    But do the public want their food engineered? The experience with genetically modified(GM)food would suggest not. Although no nanotech food products are available in Britain, a handful are in the U. S. where there are already demands from lobby groups for "nanohazard" labeling.
    There is little controversy over new techniques of attaching nanoscale-sensing devices to food products and packaging, so that the sources of food ingredients can be traced back to origin: something that food campaigners have long been demanding.
    Could nanomaterials migrate from packaging into food? If so, what might their impact be? No one knows yet,although it is the subject of research sponsored by the Food Safety Agency(FSA). So that is one area where future controversy may lie.
    The Government has recently announced 5 million additional funding for nanotech-nology risk assessment. But while the Government claims that it is proceeding with nanotechnology using an evidence-based approach, the Government needs a more active approach, pushing studies ahead.