Nanotechnology offers the food industry a number of new approaches for improving the quality, shelf life, safety, and healthiness of foods. Nevertheless, there is concern from consumers, regulatory agencies, and the food industry about potential adverse effects (toxicity) associated with the application of nanotechnology in foods. In particular, there is concern about the direct incorporation of engineered nanoparticles into foods, such as those used as delivery systems for colors, flavors, preservatives, nutrients, and nutraceuticals, or those used to modify the optical, rheological, or flow properties of foods or food packaging. This review article summarizes the application of both inorganic (silver, iron oxide, titanium dioxide, silicon dioxide, and zinc oxide) and organic (lipid, protein, and carbohydrate) nanoparticles in foods, highlights the most important nanoparticle characteristics that influence their behavior, discusses the importance of food matrix and gastrointestinal tract effects on nanoparticle properties, emphasizes potential toxicity mechanisms of different food-grade nanoparticles, and stresses important areas where research is still needed. The authors note that nanoparticles are already present in many natural and processed foods, and that new kinds of nanoparticles may be utilized as functional ingredients by the food industry in the future. Many of these nanoparticles are unlikely to have adverse affects on human health, but there is evidence that some of them could have harmful effects and that future studies are required.

纳米技术为食品工业提供了许多提高食品质量、保质期、安全性和健康性的新方法。然而，消费者、监管机构和食品工业对纳米技术在食品中应用的潜在不利影响（毒性）表示担忧。特别是，人们担心将工程纳米颗粒直接掺入食品中，例如用作颜色、风味、防腐剂、营养素和保健品的输送系统的纳米颗粒，或用于改变食品的光学、流变或流动特性的纳米颗粒或食品包装。这篇综述文章总结了无机（银、氧化铁、二氧化钛、二氧化硅和氧化锌）和有机（脂质、蛋白质和碳水化合物）纳米颗粒在食品中的应用，强调了影响其行为的最重要的纳米颗粒特性，讨论了食品基质和胃肠道对纳米颗粒特性的影响的重要性，强调了不同食品级纳米颗粒的潜在毒性机制，并强调了仍需要研究的重要领域。作者指出，纳米颗粒已经存在于许多天然食品和加工食品中，未来食品工业可能会利用新型纳米颗粒作为功能成分。许多这些纳米颗粒不太可能对人类健康产生不利影响，但有证据表明其中一些可能会产生有害影响，需要进一步的研究。