Canada’s Proposed Plan of Priorities, released by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada in October 2024, outlines the government’s strategy and priorities to protect human and environmental health over the next few years through chemical management. The Plan includes which substances are prioritized for safety assessment, activities to manage chemical risks, and the development of New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) to replace animal testing.

In collaboration with researchers from the Kong Lab at the University of Georgia, we provide a comprehensive review of the potential applications of nanocelluloses (NCs) in food and food packaging applications including the various production methods, functionalizations, and forms of NCs being developed.

The toolbox includes a suite of physical, chemical, and toxicological testing methods for pre-commercial safety evaluations, as well as compendium of safety data that has been generated to date for first generation cellulose materials (e.g., unmodified MFC) and priority second generation CNs including sulfated (acid hydrolyzed) and carboxyl (TEMPO-oxidized, periodate-chlorite oxidized) surface chemistries.