Nanotechnology in Food & Agriculture - denix

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Recommendations for sustainable
food and farming
A moratorium on food nanotechnology
Friends of the Earth calls for a moratorium
on the commercial release of food
products, food packaging, food contact
materials and agrochemicals that contain
manufactured nanomaterials until
nanotechnology-specific regulation is
introduced to protect the public, workers
and the environment from their risks, and
until the public is involved in decision
making.
In line with recommendations from the
United Kingdom’s Royal Society and Royal
Academy of Engineering’s 2004 report
on nanotechnology, intentional release
of nanomaterials into the environment
should be prohibited until this can
be proven to be safe. This prohibition
should include on-farm use of nano
agrochemicals and all synthetic biology
applications.
What government must do:
1. Establish comprehensive and
precautionary legislation to
manage the risks associated with
nanotechnology
We call for the establishment of regulatory
regimes requiring comprehensive
assessment of all manufactured
nanomaterials in food, food packaging,
food contact materials and agricultural
products.
Nanomaterials regulated as new
substances
• All nanomaterials must be subject
to new safety assessments as new
substances, even where the properties of
larger scale counterparts are well-known.
• Particles up to 300nm in size must be
considered to be ‘nanomaterials’ for
| NANOTECHNOLOGY IN FOOD & AGRICULTURE
the purposes of health and environment
assessment given early evidence that they
pose many similar health risks to particles
less than 100nm in size.
Assessment
• All manufactured nanomaterials must
be subject to nano-specific health and
environmental impact assessment and
must be demonstrated to be safe prior to
approval for commercial use in foods,
food contact materials or agricultural
applications.
• Assessments must be based on the
precautionary principle and the onus must
be on manufacturers to comprehensively
demonstrate the safety of their product.
No data, no market.
• Safety assessment must be based on the
nano content of products, not marketing
claims.
• Safety assessment must include the
product’s entire life cycle.
• Social and cultural implications of
nanotechnology’s expansion into the
agriculture and food systems must be
addressed alongside concerns over
safety.
Transparency
• All relevant data related to safety
assessments, and the methodologies used
to obtain them, must be placed in the
public domain.
• All manufactured nano ingredients must
be clearly indicated on product labels to
allow members of the public to make an
informed choice about product use.
Public involvement in decision making
• The public, including all stakeholder
groups affected, must be involved in all
aspects of decision making regarding the
use of nanotechnology in the food and