| Posted: September 12, 2007 |
What's for dinner? Nanotechnology, of course. |
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(Nanowerk News) Over at the IndustryWeek website, Scott E. Rickert, the CEO of Nanofilm, has written an article on nanotechnology in the food industry ("Taking the NanoPulse -- What's for dinner? Nanotechnology, of course").
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The article is a glowing review of all the good things nanotechnology is expected to bring to our food, culminating in this sentence: " As with every manufacturing arena, nanotechnology brings untold benefits to the table". Not a single word about possible downsides or reason for caution.
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Here is an example of Rickert's article:
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In the longer term, the possibilities get positively delicious. Imagine how nano-scale flavor capsules could give you all the taste of chocolate without all the calories -- or cost? Several large companies are pursuing nano-emulsifiers that help improve the texture uniformity of food. Sometimes called "mouth feel," it means your low-fat ice cream would have the texture of the real stuff. Or your peanut butter would spread more easily without more fat.
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And here's a treat. A major food giant is looking at nanotechnology that will make food "interactive." Someday soon, you could choose the taste and vitamins you want after you buy a product. Maybe you'll choose the color and flavor of your food right at the time you get hungry or thirsty. Orange or green? Banana or vanilla? With Or, you could turn up the calcium for bones or the folic acid for memory. There's even some longer-range research into designing foods that include nanosenors. They'll know if you're low on certain nutritional elements and trigger their release.
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Yummy. Here at Nanowerk of course we have taken a more balanced and critical view of the nanotechnology food issue. If you feel like reading more about this topic, take a look at one of our recent Spotlights that also includes links to previous articles on nanofood – The promises of food nanotechnology.
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