- Nanotechnology involves structures as small as molecules, with
new and unexpected properties that could make them hazardous to
health. - Nanofoods may already be on supermarket shelves
without us knowing — and without violating current Australian
food regulations. - CHOICE wants nanofoods better regulated to
ensure they are both safe and properly labelled. Please note:
this information was current as of February 2009 but is still a
useful guide today. What is nanotechnology? Broadly speaking,
nanotechnology involves manipulating matter at the nanoscale to
create new materials, structures and devices. The nanoscale is
usually taken to mean structures ranging in size from one to 100
nanometres, about the size of individual molecules. One
nanometre (nm) is a billionth of a metre and to put this in
perspective, a human hair is about 80,000nm–100,000nm thick,
while a single molecule of the protein haemoglobin (which
carries the oxygen in our blood) is about 4nm across. At this
tiny scale, materials can have diff