he guidance document bans engineered nanomaterials in products bearing the USDA Organic seal unless they’re on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The Committee is suggesting defining “engineered nanomaterials” as follows:
“Substances deliberately designed, engineered and produced by human activity to be in the nanoscale range (approx. 1–300 nm) because of very specific properties or compositions (e.g., shape, surface properties or chemistry) that result in that nanoscale” (3).
Of note, the definition excludes certain nano-byproducts of organic food processing: “Incidental particles in the nanoscale range created during traditional food processing such as homogenization, milling, churning and freezing, and naturally occurring particles in the nanoscale range are not intended to be included in this definition. All nanomaterials (without exception) containing capping reagents or other synthetic components are intended to be included in this definition” (3).
The group also said it would support restrictions to packaging and other materials that come in direct contact with organic foods as well as crops and livestock since “there is great concern for contamination that could occur from primary packaging.” The committee stated that inadvertent contamination from something out of an organic facility’s control (like a nanofilter in its water supply) would not require a company to move or risk losing organic certification. The National Organic Program plans to clarify these situations.
Overall, DiMatteo feels the document offers “a practical approach” to handling the use of nanotechnology. “It moves the discussion to a level where we can use all our knowledge and our principles to come up with something that works for us in the organic industry.” WF
1. BCC Research, “Global Nanotechnology Market to be Worth $27 Billion in 2015,” press release distributed September 23, 2010.
2. National Organic Standards Board, Materials Committee, Nanotechnology in Organic Production, Processing, and Packaging, September 8, 2009.
3. National Organic Standards Board Materials Committee, Guidance Document: Engineered Nanomaterials in Organic Production, Processing and Packaging, Sept. 2, 2010.
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, November 2010