International Conference on Safety and Innovation in Food Packaging (InSIPack) 2016: book of abstracts

The aim of the conference is to bring together academia and industry to discuss the safety of food packaging as well as the development of new food packaging materials, including active, intelligent and nano concepts. Bio-based materials will be also discussed due to be a growing area of food packaging. Topics: Food Safety & Quality (Physical and chemical hazards: measurement and assessment; Biological hazards: risk and prevention; Mathematical modelling of risk assessment; Evaluation of food spoilage, food quality and shelf life; Food packaging laws and regulations; Food package interactions: migration measurement methods, models and food safety risk assessment; Food Packaging innovation (Active and intelligent packaging; Nano-packaging; New packaging materials and material development; Bio based and edible packaging; Food package testing; Sustainable food contact materials; Recycling and Life Cycle Assessment).

Are iron oxide nanoparticles safe? Current knowledge and future perspectives

Due to their unique physicochemical properties, including superparamagnetism, iron oxide nanoparticles (ION) have a number of interesting applications, especially in the biomedical field, that make them one of the most fascinating nanomaterials. They are used as contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, in targeted drug delivery, and for induced hyperthermia cancer treatments. Together with these valuable uses, concerns regarding the onset of unexpected adverse health effects following exposure have been also raised. Nevertheless, despite the numerous ION purposes being explored, currently available information on their potential toxicity is still scarce and controversial data have been reported. Although ION have traditionally been considered as biocompatible - mainly on the basis of viability tests results - influence of nanoparticle surface coating, size, or dose, and of other experimental factors such as treatment time or cell type, has been demonstrated to be important for ION in vitro toxicity manifestation. In vivo studies have shown distribution of ION to different tissues and organs, including brain after passing the blood-brain barrier; nevertheless results from acute toxicity, genotoxicity, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and reproductive toxicity investigations in different animal models do not provide a clear overview on ION safety yet, and epidemiological studies are almost inexistent. Much work has still to be done to fully understand how these nanomaterials interact with cellular systems and what, if any, potential adverse health consequences can derive from ION exposure.