Nanotechnology boost for UK food scientists

This award is part of the UK government's latest round of funding intonanotechnology totalling £15 million. The project is being carried out in conjunction with both the food and engineering industries.

Nanotechnology deals with particles so small the laws of physics no longer apply. The technology is already used to preserve foods, and boost flavour and nutritional values.

The project consortium led by the University of Birmingham will exploit the micro engineering facilities and micro-fluidic expertise at Birmingham to develop a new generation of rheometers. These new micro devices will be developed in partnership with industrial partners Surface Measurements Systems, Rockfield Software and Applied Microengineering.

The final system will give manufacturing partners ICI and Unilever access to a new generation of instrumentation that will allow the rapid and cost effective development, characterisation and testing of a wide range of liquid based products food products.

This new micro rheometer or 'treacleometer' based upon micro andnanotechnology will measure the viscosity or 'feel' of a liquid basedproduct. This new device exploits microengineering and will be built on the scale of a human hair. Looking rather like a micro straw, fluid will be drawn up into the device and the force exerted upon it will be measured by micromachined sensors.

This is an important measurement for a wide range of products that is currently time consuming and expensive. The scientists believe that the new device will be small enough so that in future the whole measurement will be able to be made in a small hand held device, possibly looking rather like a smart hypodermic needle.

The small size brings several advantages including increased speed, reduced cost and environmental impact since fewer resources are used in manufacture and use. These are all major considerations for food manufacturers, given the current pressures on increasing efficiency and achieving sustainable production.

There are several technical challenges to be overcome in the successfuldevelopment of the device, these include understanding the behaviour ofcomplex fluids in 'micro pipes', obtaining good quality data from the micro sensors and integrating the whole system into a user-friendly system for the customer.

The grant is part of the government's drive to help companies, researchorganisations and universities to exploit potential applications for the new technology so that the UK can be a leading country in this area. It is estimated that the global market for nanotechnology could be $1 trillion within the next decade.

UK department of trade and industry minister, Nigel Griffiths has described Nanotechnology an important and exciting emerging technology, and one that has the capacity to improve daily life.

"It is about exploring new products and improving existing ones by making things smaller, faster, stronger or more energy efficient,"​ he said. "We want to help organisations turn ideas into reality, helping create jobs and prosperity in the UK.​

"These grants will form part of a range of government schemes to support this important growth area."​

The UK Government's micro and nanotechnology manufacturing initiative was announced by Lord Sainsbury July last year.

Nanotechnology has created a great deal of excitement within the food production industry. A new UK-based study reveals that two hundred food manufacturing companies are already working on ways to insert nanotechnology into foods. Proponents have been talking about nanotechnology​ as the next industrial revolution.

In agriculture, nanotechnology is being touted as a possible cure to Mad Cow Disease. The disease involves a malfunction in the brain that can lead to DNA disorders and malfunctions in the body, but if nanotechnology can be used to stop the virus from getting close to the brain, or not allow the brain to malfunction, it could transform the fortunes of the beef industry.

However, the technology has attracted a great deal of fear and opposition. As Barnaby Feder in the New York Times points out, the ultimate nightmare is the so-called Grey Goo catastrophe, in which self-replicating microscopic robots the size of bacteria fill the world and wipe out humanity.

But hysteria aside, most opposition to the science stresses the unknown side-effects of nanotechnology. In fact opposition to nanotechnology is similar to current resistance to GM foods, where critics argue that not enough is known about the new science to guarantee complete safety.