review · Foods
The global food sector faces demands to improve safety, prolong shelf life, cut waste, and introduce sustainable packaging. Nanotechnology addresses these challenges through the development of smart and sustainable packaging systems. Integrating nanomaterials, such as metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanostructures, and nano-biopolymers, enhances functional performance by improving mechanical strength, barrier properties, antimicrobial action, and responsiveness to environmental changes. These active and intelligent systems allow for real-time sensing, spoilage tracking, and traceability, which in turn support food quality control and supply chain transparency. Alongside these advantages, critical concerns exist regarding the migration of nanomaterials, environmental effects, and consumer safety. Addressing these challenges requires standardised safety assessments, sustainable design principles, updated regulatory frameworks, and solutions to industrial scalability limitations to enable the safe use of nano-enabled packaging.
Food spoilage and packaging waste create significant economic and environmental burdens. Using nanomaterials to create smart packaging offers a way to monitor freshness in real time and protect food quality. However, wider adoption depends on proving these materials are safe for consumers and the environment through clear safety standards.
This work points to applications in real-time food freshness monitoring, active protection, and supply chain tracking for food producers and packaging manufacturers. The technology faces hurdles regarding industrial scalability, material migration risks, and evolving regulatory frameworks, indicating that wide commercial adoption remains at an intermediate stage requiring further safety standardisation.
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The global food industry is facing growing pressure to enhance food safety, extend shelf life, minimize waste, and adopt environmentally sustainable packaging solution. Nanotechnology offers innovative ways to meet these demands by enabling the creation of smart and sustainable food packaging systems. Due to their unique properties, nanomaterials can significantly enhance the functional performance of packaging by boosting mechanical strength, barrier efficiency, antimicrobial activity, and responsiveness to environmental stimuli. This review provides a comprehensive overview of nanomaterials used as smart and sustainable food packaging, focusing on their role in active and intelligent packaging systems. By integrating nanomaterials like metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanostructures, and nano-biopolymers, packaging can now perform real-time sensing, spoilage detection, and traceability. These systems improve food quality management and supply chain transparency while supporting global sustainability goals. The review also discusses potential risks related to nanomaterials' migration, environmental impact, and consumer safety, as well as the current regulatory landscape and limitations in industrial scalability. Emphasis is placed on the importance of standardized safety assessments and eco-friendly design to support responsible innovation. Overall, nano-enabled smart packaging represents a promising strategy for advancing food safety and sustainability. Future developments will require collaboration across disciplines and robust regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe and practical application of nanotechnology in food systems.
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DOI: 10.3390/foods14152657
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