Nanoparticles in food packaging: Biodegradability and potential migration to food—A review

• Technological properties of biopolymers can be improved by the use of nanomaterials.
• Nanomaterials interfere with the biodegradability of the plastic packaging.
• Migration tests are mandatory to elucidate the safety of these novel materials.

Lately, the appliance of nanotechnology into the food industry has been focused in the development of packaging material. Nanoparticles (NPs) are used as reinforcements to improve barrier and mechanical properties of polymers, resulting in packages with less demand for raw materials (more sustainable) and when are applied into biopolymers makes its production and use feasible, contributing to reduce the dependence on petroleum based materials. However, being a novel technology, there are gaps on its knowledge that pose questions to the scientific community, especially regarding its toxicity and ecotoxicity. Theoretically, the NPs have potential to migrate to the foodstuff packaged, but migration assays and risk assessment are still not conclusive. This critical review shows an overview of the actual state of the art demonstrating the urgent demand for research on this field.