Media Release
May 2 2008
Eating the small stuff - nanotechnology in food
Nanotechnology
- the “science of the small” and the new high-tech intervention in our
food system - could be doing us damage unless regulated, according to
experts.
The UniSA Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre together with Reclaim the Food Chain, the sustainable food campaign of Friends of the Earth Adelaide, will jointly present a free public information evening on the effects of nanotechnology in food and agriculture next Monday May 5 in UniSA’s Hawke Building.
Nanotechnology expert and co-author of the Out of the laboratory and on to our plates: Nanotechnology in food and agriculture report, Georgia Miller will discuss how nanotechnology is already being used in our food production, and the impacts and risks this poses to our health, society and environment.
Miller says that nanotechnology, which involves manipulating materials, systems and even living organisms at the scale of atoms and molecules, has been allowed to bypass the traditional regulatory systems directly into our food stream.
“An absence of public debate, governmental inquiry and legislative regulation has enabled nanotechnology to advance from the laboratory and enter the global food chain,” she said.
“Many are unaware that nanoparticles are being used in food and the implications of this practice, so the big question is whether nanoparticles in food and food packaging can continue to go unreported and unregulated.
“Without any legislation covering these new substances in our food chain there are potential, and possibly unknown, risks to public health and the environment and it could also threaten to further concentrate control of agriculture and food production into a handful of global corporations.”
Miller will provide a brief introduction to nanotechnology for the layperson and throw open the challenge to the consumer and public about what can be done, what the risks are and whether we should and can say no to nano-foods.
Director of the Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre, Elizabeth Ho, said the Centre was delighted to present such a relevant and topical debate.
“The science of food production is a hotly contested and ongoing issue and highly relevant to the community in which we live,” she said.
“We’re so pleased to provide a forum for the public to learn more about these developments.”
Nanotechnology in food and agriculture information evening
When: Monday May 5 2008, 6.30pm
Where: Bradley Forum, Level 5, Hawke Building, UniSA City West Campus, 50-60 North Tce
Bookings: Hawke Centre website www.hawkecentre.unisa.edu.au or phone (08) 8302 0215.
The full report Out of the laboratory and on to our plates:
Nanotechnology in food and agriculture is available at
http://www.nano.foe.org.au/
Contacts for interview
- Elizabeth Ho office (08) 8302 0651 mobile 0417 085 585 email elizabeth.ho@unisa.edu.au
-
Georgia Miller mobile 0437 979 402
Media contact
- Linda Hein office (08) 8302 0965 mobile 0411 257 029 email linda.hein@unisa.edu.au