On March 17, 2016, Dr. Jo Anne Shatkin presented the Aaron Brody Distinguished Lecture at State University, in a room overflowing with people, and streamed live to a global audience. The lecture, established in honor of Aaron Brody, a well known food packaging expert, invites a distinguished expert in food packaging to deliver a presentation each year. This year, Dr. Shatkin presented “Safety of Nanomaterials in the Life Cycle of Food Packaging”, a seminar that emphasized the importance of being proactive in demonstrating nanomaterial safety to assure critics and guarantee public well-being, while also paving a path forward for innovation in sustainable packaging.

The one-hour lecture covers:

• The historical context of nanomaterials and public acceptance
• Nanomaterials in food packaging – applications and current status
• Overarching concerns about safety of nanomaterials
• The benefits and sustainability of nanomaterials
• Public acceptance requirements
• Technical aspects of safety demonstration
• How risk assessment screening can be performed (Nano LCRA)
• The regulatory perspective
• Case examples of existing materials: silver nanomaterials and cellulose nanomaterials
• Audience discussion

This lecture will be of interest to those involved in, or wanting to get involved in nanomaterial-enabled food packaging activities, such as industry actors, nanotoxicologists, regulators, policy makers, researchers, and anyone interested in learning more about nanomaterials in food contact materials.

The lecture has been made available online, and can be found here. Please leave us a comment below if you have any questions or thoughts!