Nanotechnology in food packaging is set experience strong growth over the next five years as the move towards globalisation of the food supply boosts demand for shelf-life enhancing packing.

This trend, combined with the increased monitoring of food safety and quality according to international standards, will see the world-wide market for nano packaging climb from $4.13bn in 2008 to $7.3bn by 2014 – with an average growth rate of 11.65 per cent per annum, said a new industry report, Nano-Enabled Packaging for the Food and Beverage Industry – A Global Technology, Industry and Market Analysis, by iRAP Inc.

Applications of nanotechnology in food packaging include improved mechanical, barrier and antimicrobial properties, as well as the incorporation of nano-sensors for traceability and the monitoring the condition of food during transport and storage, said the study.

Market shares

Active technology is set to grab the largest share with a market value of $4.35bn by the end of the review period – an increase of almost 10 per cent per annum. However, its overall market share is set to decrease from 66 per cent to 59 per cent within five years. Greatest growth in the sector will be seen in the intelligent packing segment, where compound annual growth will hit almost 19 per cent to reach $2.47bn by 2014. This growth will be instrumental in its market share rising from its current 25 per cent to 34 per cent.

The controlled sector will be squeezed, said the report, with its share of the market dropping from nine to seven per cent over the period. This is because it will expand less quickly than the other segments as its value is projected to climb from $360m to $480m.

Product break-down

The current active packaging segment is dominated by oxygen scavengers, moisture absorbers and barrier packing products, which accounts for 80 per cent of this market. Radio frequency identification tags (RFID) are forecast to exhibit strongest growth in the intelligent packing sector, while time/temperature indicators have the largest market share presently.

Bakery and meat products have attracted most nano-packing technology up until now, while in beverages, bottled water and carbonated drinks dominate. Oxygen scavenging technology in non-carbonated drinks such as juices has also shown a “relatively large demand”, said the report.

Regional differences

The report identifies distinct regional differences in the use of nanotechnology, with the Asia/Pacific area– and Japan in particular- pin-pointed as the global market leader. Its 45 per cent share is currently valued at $1.86bn and projected to almost double to $3.43bn in five years.

By contrast, the European market for nanotechnology in food and beverage packing is presently estimated to be worth $830m with the study forecasting it to rise to $1.31bn by 2014. The US market, currently valued at $1.44bn, is predicted to increase to $2.56bn.

Active packaging is already being successfully applied to extending product shelf life in Australia, Japan and the US, said report supervisor Dr Thomas Abraham. Examples of commercial applications include moisture absorbers in fresh meat and fish, as well as oxygen scavengers in sliced processed meats, beer and ready to eat meals. Ethylene-scavenging bags are also being employed for fruit and vegetable packing.

Euro-caution could change

However, Europe has yet to embrace nanotechnology with the same enthusiasm said the study – but this might be about to change.

Abraham said “In Europe, however, only a few of these systems have been developed and are being applied now. The main reasons for this are legislative restrictions and lack of knowledge about acceptability to European consumers, as well as the efficacy of such systems and the economic and environmental impact such systems may have.”

He added that the European Actipak project, which will establish and implement active and intelligent packaging concepts within current relevant EU food packing regulations, was likely to address these issues in the near future. The initiative is also designed to enhance the competitiveness of the EU food industry, especially with the USA, Australia and Japan.

Experts have questioned the conclusions of a UK parliamentary report that the food packaging industry is too secretive about advances in nanotechnology.

Specialists from Pira International said high costs and supply chain concerns were responsible for the slower take up of the technology in the packaging sector – rather than any attempt by the industry to conceal research for fear of a public backlash.

The organization, which provides business, technical and market advice to the packaging, printing and paper industries, was reacting to a report from the UK’s House of Lords Science and Technology Committee last week which warned that reluctance by the food industry as a whole to communicate openly on nanotechnology was in danger of incurring a public backlash similar to that which occurred against genetically modified (GM) foods.

Pira International consultant Dr Graham Moore indicated that it was simply “too early” to level such criticism at the segment because so few nanomaterials had been incorporated into packaging.

“The limited growth in the market to date is strongly related to cost,” he said. “Companies are waiting for others to make a breakthrough and bring the cost of nano-packaging down. There has been a lot of work done at a research level but what is missing is the link with industry. Safety is also an issue. A third concern is over whether there is the supply chain in place and whether component parts could be produced in sufficient quantity and consistent quality.”

Nick Kernoghan, the company’s UK director, also cited cost as a major factor in curbing growth. He added: “Nanotechnology is quite expensive and the biggest pressure in packaging at present is cutting not increasing costs.”

Research

Both experts agreed that expansion in nano-packaging was extremely likely. Moore said growth would be fuelled “as the move towards globalization of the food supply boosts demand for shelf-life enhancing packing”. A recent report by iRAP forecast the global nano-packaging market would to climb from $4.13bn in 2008 to $7.3bn by 2014 – with an average growth rate of 11.65 per cent per annum.

House of Lords Committee Chairman Lord Krebs also said: "The use of nanotechnologies in food and food packaging is likely to grow significantly over the next decade. The technologies have the potential to deliver some significant benefits to consumers but it is important that detailed and thorough research into potential health and safety implications in this area is undertaken now to ensure that any possible risks are identified.”

The Pira pair also concurred that any secrecy over breakthroughs is being driven by normal commercial concerns rather than a wish to keep the public in ignorance. Given the current robustness of regulatory regimes, it was just not possible to be secretive about products brought to market, they said.

“The science needs to be promoted in an effective way and concerns need to be addressed through the regulatory testing regimes,” said Moore. Kernoghan believed the Lords Committee’s recommendation to introduce an obligatory database so that regulatory authorities could monitor and assess new developments would be acceptable to the industry and showed an acceptance that thorough risk assessment was necessary.

He added there was general industry consensus that risk assessments would need to be carried out on a case by case basis and that migration was likely to be the issue most scrutinized. "However, in many cases nano-packaging will not be in direct contact with food", Kernoghan said.

Other responses

Other industry bodies and sectors appear to have been taken by surprise by the verdict of Lord Krebs’ science committee.

The European Organization for Packaging and the Environment (EUROPEN) said it had yet to formulate a position on nanotechnology but that it believed each packaging material sector would be required to deal with the issue separately.