Scientists see risks and benefits in nano foods

In a taste of things to come, food scientists say they have cooked up a way of using nanotechnology to make low-fat or fat-free foods just as appetizing and satisfying as their full-fat fellows.

The implications could be significant in combating the spread of health problems such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

However, experts say nanotechnology's future in food could be thwarted before it gets started by a reluctance among food manufacturers fearful of the kind of European consumer backlash that greeted genetically modified (GM) food to be open about what they are doing.

They say this refusal to communicate could foster the same mistrust that led GM to be branded "Frankenstein food" in many parts of Europe and could mean some of nano food's potential remains unfulfilled for years.

"What the food industry is doing in research labs is looking at new possibilities of creating new products, and they're using the toolbox of nanotechnology to do that," said Frans Kampers, who coordinates research on food nanotechnology at Wageningen University and Research Center in the Netherlands.

"But I think the industry should be more open. It should show what ... could come onto the market within the next two or three years, because if we don't prepare society for these products ... we may be throwing away all these opportunities."

RELUCTANCE

Nanotechnology is the science of manipulating matter at the nano scale - one thousand millionth of a meter - which, among other things, may be used to alter when, how and where in our bodies food is digested.

According a British parliamentary report, the global market for nanotechnology in food was $140 million in 2006 and is expected to balloon to $5.6 billion in 2012.

Like Kampers, British lawmakers expressed concern that not enough research is being done into potential nano food risks, and frustration about the food sector's lack of communication.

Reuters contacted Unilever, Kraft and Nestle, three of the world's biggest food firms, but only one wanted to talk at length about nanotechnology.

Nestle said in an emailed statement it "does not do research in the field of nanotechnology." Kraft said it did not use nanotechnology now, but its research and development teams "always keep their eyes on the scientific research."

A Unilever research director, Charles-Francois Gaudefroy, was more forthcoming, saying that while the firm did not use nanotechnology in any of its foods at the moment, it was looking seriously at potential applications for the future.

"We need to go further into understanding how matter works, and then bring that knowledge into how we prepare food for our products," he told Reuters. "We're at the very beginning."

One thing they might look into is work by scientists at Britain's Institute of Food Research (IFR), who said last month they had found an unexpected synergy that helped break down fat and might lead to new ways of slowing digestion, and ultimately to creating foods that made consumers feel fuller.