Nanotechnology: The Next Small Thing in Food

Leonardo da Vinci once offered the following pearl of wisdom: “Study the art of science and the science of art.” Culinologists have taken this advice to heart. As a result of advances in the emerging field of nanotechnology—which is briefly defined as manipulating atoms at the molecular level in order to make new products—culinologists may find it beneficial to apply their understanding of science to a level that is so infinitesimally small that it is hard to grasp. One nanometer is roughly 100,000 times thinner than a human hair.

But to professionals in a field such as Culinology®, where it is not uncommon that a pinch of a spice or a few extra seconds of heat to an ingredient can make the difference between a good meal and a great one, it will be important to understand that, at the nanoscale, the weird world of quantum mechanics kicks in and materials and ingredients begin to manifest entirely new characteristics. It is a scientist’s ability to manipulate these new and enhanced characteristics that lies at the heart of the field’s ability to transform virtually every aspect of food.

Given nanotechnology’s immense potential, it is not surprising that over half of the top-10 food companies in the world, including Campbell’s, ConAgra, General Mills, H.J. Heinz, Kraft Foods, Nestle, PepsiCo, Sara Lee and Unilever, are all investing heavily in the field. Their reason is simple: They all understand that by manipulating materials, packaging and foodstuffs at the molecular level, they can teach old food products new tricks. To this end, Cientifica, London, a nanotechnology research firm, estimates that the value of all food products incorporating nanotechnology will soar 14-fold from $410 million in 2007 to $5.8 billion by 2012.

To many people, though, nanotechnology sounds as if it were still a far-off, fuzzy, futuristic technology. Nothing could be further from the truth. A number of real-world nanotechnologyenhanced products are presently on the market, and they are being utilized by savvy companies and product developers to gain a competitive advantage. To use a simple and appropriate metaphor, nanotechnology is creating a sharper knife.

In fact, Apollo Diamond, Boston, has manufactured a low-cost, high-quality synthetic diamond (diamondoid)—with carbon atoms aligned in a highly precise fashion—that could be used to create an inexpensive, sharper, long-lasting knife that never dulls.

Self-cleaning knives are also possible via nanotechnology by embedding nanoparticles of either silver or titanium dioxide directly into the steel. These nanoparticles work to kill bacteria and break down other food particles.

Other food-industry nanotechnology applications are already coming to fruition. Honeywell, Morristown, NJ, and others have created new nanomaterials that allow packaging to keep food fresher for a longer period of time. By tweaking the molecular structure of the plastic, scientists have created an almost impenetrable barrier through which oxygen molecules cannot navigate. BASF, Florham Park, NJ, has created self-cleaning nanomaterials used in both kitchens and in clothing to imbue sinks and uniforms with self-cleaning properties. And a company called Aspen Aerogels, Northborough, MA, has created a new nanomaterial that has eight times the thermal insulation properties of the best material currently on the market. The implication is that if storage and packaging companies use the material, their products will be significantly fresher when they ultimately reach product developers.

In addition to nanomaterials, nanoparticles are creating an impact on the food industry. For years, the antibacterial properties of silver have been well understood, but when silver is ground into nanoscopic particles these benefits are magnified due to their huge surface-to-area ratio. Some strawberry growers are already using these silver nanoparticles to keep their product free of fungal growth for an extended period of time.

OilFresh, Sunnyvale, CA, has figured out how to employ a new nanoceramic material to keep frying oil fresher. Beyond its immediate money-saving benefit —kitchens use about half as much as oil as they normally would—the device, which only costs $299 and can be easily installed and cleaned, also improves the final quality of the product because the oil stays more uniform throughout the cooking process. It even allows users to switch back-and-forth from seafood to meat without creating any carryover flavor. More importantly, because the device directs oxygen away from the oil and prevents the oil from clumping, it allows users to switch from hydrogenated products to healthier vegetable oils.

To some extent, advances in radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology and nanosensors are providing people with more information about their food than ever before. For instance, in Japan, RFID tags allow consumers to track which herd and farm a piece of beef came from, what that cow ate, whether it was administered any antibiotics, the date the animal was slaughtered and how long the product was in transit before it reached the grocery shelf.

As nanotechnology continues to make RFID tags smaller, better and cheaper, the type and number of products capable of such a high and precise level of traceability will exponentially increase. It is even likely that the RFID chips of the future will contain a molecular diagnostic component that can rapidly assess any product for the presence of any disease, including E.coli, Salmonella, Listeria or Campylobacter.

Alas, such advances are merely passive in nature. They allow consumers to know more about their food and make better-informed decisions, but such advances still fall short of the vision of personalized food. Nevertheless, this is where things are headed.

Nutralease, Jerusalem, Israel, is now developing and selling nutraceuticals embedded directly in food products to deliver improved health results. Reducing the lycopene and phytosterol down to the nanoscale enables a higher level of introduction of the materials into the body due to their higher degree of solubility. Nanoparticles of lycopene and phytosterols are now sold to food companies for the express purpose of creating healthier products.

Still other companies are exploring the possibility of using dendrimers, synthetic nanoscale devices upon which any number of different molecules can be attached. Think of the nanoscale device as a super-tiny wine rack that contains an almost limitless number of different wines. But, instead of just complementing any meal, each molecule can be made to do something different. For instance, one molecule can imbue a food product with new aroma, while another can modify the texture. A third might deliver a cholesterol-lowering molecule directly to the consumer’s artery.

Over the longer-term, researchers in the field of nanotechnology are even hoping to develop foods personalized to the tastes and health conditions of individual people. The technology would work by wrapping individual molecules with a neutral coating—much like a coated M&M. Only instead of these different coated molecules all doing the same thing, each would perform a different function, depending on its color.

The trick, of course, is to get each “M&M” to perform on cue, and nanotechnology researchers are attempting to address this issue by applying different levels of heat or light—a process that the consumer might eventually facilitate in their kitchen—to the product prior to consumption. So, if a consumer prefers a sweeter taste, they follow packaging instructions that would make the “green” coatings would dissolve. If, on the other hand, a person preferred a sour taste, they might follow slightly different instructions so that only the “red” coatings would melt away to release their inner content. Various levels of consumer customization might prove possible along these lines.

Nanotechnologists are also on the verge of figuring out how to release nutraceuticals and drug molecules in the presence of specific health markers. In this way, lycopene nanoparticles might only be triggered if a genetic marker for breast cancer was found or, alternatively, phytosterol would be released only if a protein marker indicative of a heart problem were found.

A SLOW, STEADY MARCH 

The benefits of nanotechnology are many, but the field will advance slowly if for no other reason that people have a strong personal and cultural bond with the food they eat. Moreover, many consumers are rightly leery of putting things into their bodies for which the long-term implications are only partially understood. The concern over genetically modified organisms is an excellent case-in-point.

The government, food companies and scores of academic researchers are aggressively investing in nanotechnology in an attempt to address these concerns, and it will take some time for all of the issues to be addressed. But along the way, the many unique benefits of nanotechnology will also become better known. As they do, culinologists can expect to hear a lot more about nanotechnology in the coming years. It is a small science, but it will have a big impact on the entire food industry. 

Jack Uldrich is the author of two books on nanotechnology, including "The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Impact the Future of Your Business." His forthcoming book is "Jump the Curve: 50 Strategies for Helping Companies Deal with Emerging Technologies." Uldrich is also the host of Jume the Curve.