Regulated or Not, Nano-Foods Coming to a Store Near You

[Guest guest]

-------

 

 

 

 

Regulated or Not, Nano-Foods Coming to a

Store Near You

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://snipurl.com/v36bf [AOL News]

 

 

Regulated or Not, Nano-Foods Coming to a

Store 

Near You 

Second in a Three-Part Series 

 

 

(March 24) — For centuries, it was the 

cook and the heat of the fire that cajoled 

taste, texture, flavor and aroma from the 

pot. Today, that culinary voodoo is being 

crafted by white-coated scientists toiling 

in pristine labs, rearranging atoms into 

chemical particles never before seen. 

At last year’s Institute of Food 

Technologists international conference, 

nanotechnology was the topic that 

generated the most buzz among the 

14,000 food-scientists, chefs and 

manufacturers crammed into an Anaheim, 

Calif., hall. Though it’s a word that has 

probably never been printed on any 

menu, and probably never will, there was 

so much interest in the potential uses of 

nanotechnology for food that a separate 

daylong session focused just on that 

subject was packed to overflowing. 

In one corner of the convention center, a 

chemist, a flavorist and two food- 

marketing specialists clustered around a 

large chart of the Periodic Table of 

Elements (think back to high school 

science class). The food chemist, from 

China, ran her hands over the chart, 

pausing at different chemicals just long 

enough to say how a nano-ized version of 

each would improve existing flavors or 

create new ones. 

Also in This Series: 

- Amid Nanotech’s Dazzling Promise, 

Health Risks Grow 

- Obsession With Growth Stymies 

Regulators 

- Why Nanotech Hasn’t (Yet) Triggered 

the ‘Yuck Factor’ 

- Nano-Products Are Everywhere 

Background: 

- Primer: How Nanotechnology Works 

- Timeline: Nanotech’s Evolution 

- Chart: Funding Shortchanges Safety 

- Key Findings of This Investigation 

One of the marketing guys questioned 

what would happen if the consumer found 

out. 

The flavorist asked whether the Food and 

Drug Administration would even allow 

nanoingredients. 

Posed a variation of the latter question, 

Dr. Jesse Goodman, the agency’s chief 

scientist and deputy commissioner for 

science and public health, gave a 

revealing answer. He said he wasn’t 

involved enough with how the FDA was 

handling nanomaterials in food to discuss

http://www.aolnews.com/nanotech/article/regulated-or-not-nano-foods-coming-to-a-store-near-you/19... 

that issue. And the agency wouldn’t 

provide anyone else to talk about it. 

This despite the fact that hundreds of 

peer-reviewed studies have shown that 

nanoparticles pose potential risks to 

human health — and, more specifically, 

that when ingested can cause DNA 

damage that can prefigure cancer and 

heart and brain disease. 

Despite Denials, Nano-Food Is Here 

Officially, the FDA says there aren’t any 

nano-containing food products currently 

sold in the U.S. 

Not true, say some of the agency’s own 

safety experts, pointing to scientific 

studies published in food science 

journals, reports from foreign safety 

agencies and discussions in gatherings 

like the Institute of Food Technologists 

conference. 

In fact, the arrival of nanomaterial onto 

the food scene is already causing some 

big-chain safety managers to demand 

greater scrutiny of what they’re being 

offered, especially with imported food and 

beverages. At a conference in Seattle last 

year hosted by leading food safety 

attorney Bill Marler, presenters raised the 

issue of how hard it is for large 

supermarket companies to know precisely 

what they are purchasing, especially with 

nanomaterials, because of the volume 

and variety they deal in. 

Getty Images 

According to a USDA scientist, some 

Latin American packers spray U.S.-bound 

produce with a wax-like nanocoating to 

extend shelf-life. “We found no indication 

that the nanocoating ... has ever been 

tested for health effects,” the researcher 

says. 

Craig Wilson, assistant vice president for 

safety for Costco, says his chain does not 

test for nanomaterial in the food products 

it is offered by manufacturers. But, he 

adds, Costco is looking “far more carefully 

at everything we buy. ... We have to rely 

on the accuracy of the labels and the 

integrity of our vendors. Our buyers know 

that if they find nanomaterial or anything 

else they might consider unsafe, the 

vendors either remove it, or we don’t buy 

it.” 

Another government scientist says 

nanoparticles can be found today in 

produce sections in some large grocery 

chains and vegetable wholesalers. This 

scientist, a researcher with the USDA’s 

Agricultural Research Service, was part of 

a group that examined Central and South 

American farms and packers that ship 

fruits and vegetables into the U.S. and 

Canada. According to the USDA 

researcher — who asked that his name 

not be used because he’s not authorized 

to speak for the agency — apples, pears, 

peppers, cucumbers and other fruit and 

vegetables are being coated with a thin, 

wax-like nanocoating to extend shelf-life. 

The edible nanomaterial skin will also 

protect the color and flavor of the fruit 

longer.

 

[cont'd on site]

 

 

«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»¥«¤»§«¤»

 

§ - PULSE ON 21st CENTURY ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE! §

 

 

Subscribe send email to: -

 

DETOX WITH ALL NATURAL PURE GREEN CALCIUM BENTONITE CLAY USED

INTERNAL/EXTERNAL   http://clayadvantage.com/

 

THE OPEN LINE NEWSPAPER, HEALTH NEWS, SPIRITUAL, ENVIRONMENT, ETC. http://WWW.THEOPENLINE.ORG 

 

 

RELAXATION TECHNIQUE FOR CHRONIC PAIN, PTSD + OTHER ISSUES THAT TROUBLE

YOU.   http://relaxationheals.webs.com