creators_name: Paull, John
creators_name: Lyons, Kristen
type: conference_item
datestamp: 2008-10-01
lastmod: 2009-08-20 14:41:25
metadata_visibility: show
title: Nano-in-food - Threat or Opportunity for Organic Food?
ispublished: pub
subjects: countries_us
subjects: countries_au
subjects: 6values
subjects: 7consumer
subjects: 1organics
subjects: environment
subjects: regulation
subjects: inputs_evaluation
subjects: 3assessment
full_text_status: public
keywords: nanotechnology, nanometres, nanometers, engineered nanoparticles, nanoscale materials, nano-food, organic agriculture, organic farming, regulation, labelling, IFOAM, standards, risks, precautionary principle,  consumer surveys, USA, Australia, Soil Association.
abstract: Nanotechnology is creating engineered particles in the size range 1 to 100 nanometers. At the nano-scale, materials exhibit novel behaviours. Nine billion dollars  is currently invested annually in nano-research, with the explicit intention of rapid commercialisation, including food and agriculture applications. Nanotechnology is currently unregulated, and nano-products are not required to be labelled. Health, safety and ecological aspects are poorly understood, and there have been calls for a moratorium. Two consumer surveys indicate that public awareness of nanotechnology is low, there is concern that the risks exceed the benefits, that food safety is declining along with declining confidence in regulatory authorities. A majority of respondents (65%) are concerned about side effects, and that nano-products should be labelled (71%), and only 7% reported they would purchase nano-food. There is an opportunity, for the organic community to take the initiative to develop standards to exclude engineered nanoparticles from organic products. Such a step will service both the organic community and the otherwise nano-averse consumers - just as GMOs have been excluded previously.
date: 2008
date_type: published
publication: Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress
publisher: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
pagerange: 1-4
refereed: yes
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citation: Paull, John and Lyons, Kristen (2008) Nano-in-food - Threat or Opportunity for Organic Food? 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, Modena, Italy, June 16-20, 2008. In: Proceedings of the 16th IFOAM Organic World Congress, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), pp. 1-4.
document_url: http://orgprints.org/14765/1/14765.pdf
document_url: http://orgprints.org/14765/2/14765a.pdf