2021 FDA Science Forum
Food and Beverage Ingredients Induce the Formation of Silver Nanoparticles in Products Stored within Nanotechnology-Enabled Packaging
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Contributing OfficeCenter for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Abstract
Nanotechnology-based packaging may improve food quality, but packages manufactured with polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) could be a source of human dietary exposure to engineered nanomaterials (ENMs). Previous studies showed that PNCs release ENMs to foods predominantly in a dissolved state, but most of this work used food simulants like dilute acetic acid and water, leaving questions about how substances in real foods may influence exposure. Here we demonstrate that food and beverage ingredients with reducing properties may alter exposure by inducing nanoparticle formation in foods contacting silver nanotechnology-enabled packaging. We incorporated 12.8 ± 1.4 nm silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) into polyethylene and stored media containing reducing ingredients in packages manufactured from this material under accelerated room temperature and refrigerated conditions. Analysis of the leachates revealed that reducing ingredients induced the (re)formation of AgNPs from this dissolved silver during storage. AgNP formation was also observed when Ag+ was introduced to solutions of natural and artificial sweeteners (glucose, sucrose, aspartame), commercial beverages (soft drinks, juices, milk), and liquid foods (yogurt, starch slurry). Also, the amount and morphology of reformed AgNPs depended on the ingredient formulation, silver concentration, storage conditions, and light exposure. These results imply that food and beverage ingredients may influence dietary exposure to nanoparticles if and when silver-based ENM PNCs are used in packaging applications, and the practice of using food simulants may, in certain cases, underpredict the amount of ENMs likely to be found in foods stored in these materials.
