On the 9th January, the Institute for Global Food Security (IGFS) at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) and Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, jointly hosted a conference in Dublin on the theme of ‘Nanotechnology in the Agri-food industry: Applications, opportunities & challenges’; the workshop was sponsored by safefood. The meeting was highly innovative in that it brought together researchers from the social, biological and technological sciences to discuss the various considerations in the use of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector of relevance to both the industry and consumers. The meeting was opened by Dr James McIntosh from safefood and chaired by Prof. Chris Elliott, Director of IGFS. Key international speakers provided outstanding presentations and noteworthy views on the topic.
There was a very strong consumer communications dimension to the presentations. Prof. Lynn Frewer of Newcastle University presented on consumer acceptance of emerging technologies and highlighted that this needs to be understood early in product development to avoid some of the past experiences such as those associated with genetically modified foods. Dr Mary McCarthy of UCC corroborated these findings and showed that consumer acceptance of different technologies can vary and is essentially based on evaluations of their personal or societal benefits. Importantly, her research also showed that initial consumer attitudes can be unstable and may change with additional information provided. Dr McCarthy reiterated the importance of a needs analysis of the proposed market for a nanotechnology-based food product during the early stages of development. Other issues, such as the ethical concerns of different stakeholders, need to be addressed during both the development and implementation phases, and then under subsequent regulation. Dr Maeve Henchion of Teagasc Food Research Centre, discussed consumer acceptance of nanotechnology and reiterated the importance of public engagement to stimulate interest in, and bring about acceptance of, nanotechnology and its potential applications. Again, she showed that acceptance of nanotechnology is strongly influenced by how exactly it is going to be applied and what benefits it has to offer. Prof. Frewer explained that determinants of consumer perspectives, as identified in the literature, are better predictors of consumer rejection rather than of consumer acceptance. Consequently, we know more about why consumers reject as opposed to how they come to accept new technologies.
Dr Frans Kampers, co-ordinator of the Bionanotechnology Research programme of the Dutch Agricultural Research Organization at Wageningen University, also took up the theme of consumer engagement and gave an excellent insight into the applications and benefits of nanotechnology including the creation of new functionalities and other properties in food products. The examples presented included biosensors and diagnostics for monitoring the quality and safety of foods or diagnosing food production problems, the encapsulation of pesticides for targeted and on-time delivery of the active agent, self-assembly systems for healthy ingredients, structuring of food stuffs (for example to develop alternatives to meat from plant protein sources), and applications in food packaging to extend the shelf life of fresh products. Dr Kampers also discussed some work on the Pasteur project whereby sensor devices have been developed to monitor product quality along the food chain. Both Dr Olivia McAuliffe from Teagasc-Moorepark and Dr Katrina Campbell of IGFS presented on aspects of their research which focus on the use of phage-derived nanomaterials in food and medicine and nanosensor development in the context of food safety monitoring, respectively. Caroline Handford, a Phd student at IGFS, discussed the findings of a safefood-sponsored project investigating, among other things, industrial awareness and perceptions of nanotechnology in the agri-food sector on the island of Ireland. Her preliminary findings show that there is only limited awareness of nanotechnology with mixed perceptions of the risks and benefits in terms of cost, human health, environmental implications and consumer acceptance. Consequently, any uptake of the technology is either low or unacknowledged.
An overview of how food / food packaging that consists of, or contains, engineered nanomaterials is regulated at EU level was given by Dr. Pat O'Mahony, Food Safety Authority of Ireland and scientific expert on the EFSA Scientific Network for Risk Assessment of Nanotechnologies in Food and Feed. He also gave insights into impending legislation with regard to labelling that will govern how consumers are made aware of the use of nanomaterials in food production. To date in the EU, very few foods openly declare the content of engineered nanoparticles or state if these have been used in the production process. Dr. O’Mahony also acknowledged that the level of research and development by the food industry in this area is not immediately clear.
A lively debate, chaired by Dr Moira Dean of QUB, ensued on the question of whether scientists should communicate more with consumers in the design of nanoproducts. Dr Frewer indicated that one such project CONNECT4ACTION (http://www.connect4action.eu/) has been established to improve the communication between consumers, consumer scientists, food technology developers and other key players, in order to improve the success of food technology development and commercialisation in Europe. Dr Henchion stressed that consumer acceptance of food applications of nanotechnology will vary substantially. Some on the panel felt that if only 5% of consumers wish to have a nanotechnology-based product then there is a ready market. Others, especially those from a social science background, asked if 95% of citizens strongly opposed the product would it be right to continue with its development. Advances in legislation surrounding nanotechnology were also discussed. To date the legislation has been purposely broad in scope and quite fluid in terms of its application to food. This is likely to change for different aspects particularly in the context of the re-evaluation of food additives. The workshop illustrated that we are only at the forefront of nanotechnology applications in food production and more research is required to ascertain the risks and how to qualify and measure those risks. Dr. Dean concluded by asking if we wanted consumers to have a positive image on nanotechnology, what would that image be? This question is still open for discussion.
For further information on the safefood project, please contact Katrina.campbell@qub.ac.uk
To access the presentations from the Workshop click here
Front Row: Mary McCarthy (UCC), Moira Dean (QUB), Lynn Frewer (Newcastle University), Olivia McAuliffe (Teagasc)
Back Row: Katrina Campbell (QUB), James McIntosh (safefood), Chris Elliott (QUB), Frans Kampers (Wageningen), Maeve Henchion (Teagasc), Caroline Handford (QUB)
Absent: Pat O’ Mahoney (FSAI)
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