A review of potential implications of nanotechnologies for regulations and risk assessment in relation to food.

This report presents the findings of a review by the Food Standards
Agency to identify potential gaps in regulation or risk assessment relating
to the use of nanotechnologies and the potential deliberate or
adventitious presence of manufactured nanomaterials in food. The report found that there is not major gaps in regulations but there is some uncertainty in some areas whether applications of nanotechnologies would be picked up consistently. In these cases there are relatively straightforward options to address this uncertainty. As food regulations are harmonised at EU level, the Agency will seek to address them at EU level through the European Commission and other Member States. The
Commission’s Nanotechnology Action Plan commits it to co-ordinating
an approach to such issues. This review is part of the Agency’s contribution to the UK government strategy on nanotechnologies, as set out in the government response to
the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2004 report
on nanotechnologies. The conclusions of this review will inform the Agency’s ongoing work in relation to nanotechnologies, and will also feed into an overall, crossGovernment review of regulatory gaps co-ordinated by the Nanotechnology Issues Dialogue Group.