Accepted ManuscriptAwareness and Attitudes towards the Emerging Use of Nanotechnology in the Agri-food SectorCaroline E. Handford, Moira Dean, Michelle Spence, Maeve Henchion, Christopher T.Elliott, Katrina CampbellPII: S0956-7135(15)00196-6DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.03.033Reference: JFCO 4376To appear in: Food ControlReceived Date: 20 October 2014Revised Date: 24 March 2015Accepted Date: 31 March 2015Please cite this article as: Handford C.E., Dean M., Spence M., Henchion M., Elliott C.T. & Campbell K.,Awareness and Attitudes towards the Emerging Use of Nanotechnology in the Agri-food Sector, FoodControl (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2015.03.033.This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service toour customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergocopyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Pleasenote that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and alllegal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT1 Awareness and Attitudes towards the Emerging Use of Nanotechnology in the Agri-food1 Sector 2 3 Caroline E. Handford1, Moira Dean1, Michelle Spence1, Maeve Henchion2, Christopher T.4 Elliott1, Katrina Campbell1*5 6 1Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University7 Belfast, 18-30 Malone Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT9 5BN, United Kingdom.8 9 2Teagasc, Food Research Centre, Ashtown, Dublin 15, Ireland 10 11 *Corresponding author:Katrina Campbell, +44 (0) 28 90976535.12 Fax: +44 (0)28 90976513. 13 Email: katrina.campbell@qub.ac.uk 14 15 Declaration of financial interests: The authors have no actual or potential competing financial16 interests to declare. 17 18 List of abbreviations: 19 GM, Genetic Modification20 IoI, Island of Ireland21 NI, Northern Ireland 22 ROI, Republic of Ireland23 SME, Small and Medium enterprise24 25 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 Abstract 26 Nanotechnology has relevance to applications in all areas of agri-food including agriculture,27 aquaculture,production,processing,packaging,safetyandnutrition.Scientificliterature28 indicatesuncertaintiesinfoodsafetyaspectsaboutusingnanomaterialsduetopotential29 health risks. To date the agri-food industrys awareness and attitude towards nanotechnology30 have not been addressed. We surveyed the awareness and attitudes of agri-food organisations31 ontheislandofIreland(IoI)withregardstonanotechnology.Atotalof14agri-food32 stakeholderswereinterviewedand88agri-foodstakeholdersrespondedtoanon-line33 questionnaire.Thefindingsindicatethatthecurrentawarenessofnanotechnology34 applications in the agri-food sector on the IoI is low and respondents are neither positive nor35 negativetowardsagri-foodapplicationsofnanotechnology.Saferfood,reducedwasteand36 increased product shelf life were considered to be the most important benefits to the agri-food37 industry.Knowledgeofpracticalexamplesofagri-foodapplicationsislimitedhowever38 opportunitieswereidentifiedinprecisionfarmingtechniques,innovativepackaging,39 functionalingredientsandnutritionoffoods,processingequipment,andsafetytesting.40 Perceivedimpedimentstonanotechnologyadoptionwerepotentialunknownhumanhealth41 andenvironmentalimpacts,consumeracceptanceandmediaframing.Theneedforarisk42 assessmentframework,researchintolongtermhealthandenvironmentaleffects,andbetter43 engagementbetweenscientists,governmentbodies,theagri-foodindustryandthepublic44 were identified as important. 45 46 Key words: Agriculture, Agri-food, Attitudes, Awareness, Food industry, Nanotechnology 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT3 54 55 1. Introduction56 Nanotechnologyisthemanipulationofmaterialsandstructuresatsizesinthenanoscale57 range,approximatelybetween1and100nanometres(EuropeanFoodSafetyAuthority,58 2009). Nanotechnology research is attracting large scale investments by leading producers of59 agriculturalandfoodproductswithsomefood,beverageandpackagingproductsthat60 incorporatenanotechnologiesalreadycommerciallyavailableincertaincountries(Grure,61 2012; Momin, Jayakumar, & Prajapati, 2013). Applications of nanotechnology are relevant to62 all areas of food science (Figure 1), including agriculture, food processing, packaging, safety,63 nutritionandnutraceuticals(Chaudhryetal.,2008;Sozer,&Kokini,2009;Chaudhry,&64 Castle,2011;Duncan,2011;Mousavi,&Rezaei,2011;Rashidi,&Khosravi-Darani,2011;65 Arajoetal.,2013;Durn,&Marcato,2013;Ezhilarasi,Karthik,Chhanwal,&66 Anandharamakrishnan,2013;KalpanaSastry,Anshul,&Rao,2013;Momin,Jayakumar,&67 Prajapati,2013;Agrawal,&Rathore,2014;Sekhon,2014).Itisanticipatedthat68 nanotechnologywillbringsignificantbenefitstotheagri-foodindustryandconsumers69 includingmoreefficientfoodproductionmethods,thedevelopmentoffunctionalfoods70 whichofferhealthclaims,increasedshelflifeoffoodproducts,morehygienicfood71 processing,andimprovedtraceabilityandsafetyofproducts(Chaudhry,&Castle,2011;72 Ranjanetal.,2014).Nanofoodsandnanopackagingshavealreadybeencommercialisedin73 some countries; these are identified in the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Consumer74 ProductsInventory(http://www.nanotechproject.org/cpi/),thoughthislistisnotdefinitive.75 For example, Shemen Industries have incorporated nanoparticles into their Canola Active Oil76 to enable penetration of healthy components (such as vitamins), while Voridan has developed77 a nanocomposite to be used in their beer bottle plastics to make them harder and stronger. 78 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT4 Itisdifficulttoknowhowwidespreadtheapplicationofnanotechnologyisinthe79 agri-foodsectorbecausethereislimitedresearchontheindustrysactualawarenessof80 nanotechnologyorhowitisbeingapplied.Theindustrysawarenessandattitudestowards81 theuseofnanotechnologiesforagri-foodapplicationshavenotbeenexploredsofar.82 Nevertheless,anorganisationswillingnesstoadoptsuchtechnologiesislikelytobe83 dependentonanumberoffactorsincludingexistinguncertaintiesrelatingtohealthand84 safety,withindicationsthattheincorporationofnanomaterialsintofoodproductsand85 packagings may presentan entire new array of risks for consumers (Kuzma, Romanchek, &86 Kokotovich, 2008; Bouwmeesteret al., 2009; Bradley, Castle,& Chaudhry, 2011; Han, Yu,87 Li,&Wang,2011;Ile,Martinovic,&Kozak,2011;Magnuson,Jonaitis,&Card,2011;88 Silvestre,Duraccio,&Cimmino,2011;Cockburnetal.,2012;Magnusonetal.,2013).89 Further,atpresent,thereislittleregulationregardingnanotechnologiesornanoproducts90 (Coles,&Frewer,2013).Onlyafewgovernmentagenciesfromdifferentcountrieshave91 established regulatory frameworks for the use of nanotechnology; these are considered to be92 extensiveenoughtocoveragri-foodapplications(Mantovani,Porcari,Morrison,&93 Geertsma,2011).Further,consumersarefoundtobemoreacceptingofpackaging(nano- 94 outside)thanproductsthatincorporatenanomaterialswithinthefood(nano-inside)which95 theyconsidertobemorerisky(Siegrist,Cousin,Kastenholz,&Wiek,2007;Siegrist,96 Stampfli,&Kastenholz,2009;Ravichandran,2010;Freweretal.,2011;Henchionetal.,97 2013).Finally,organisationalissuesarethoughttobeanimpedimenttotheadoptionof98 nanotechnologies; for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), innovation may be constrained99 bylimitedresourcesanddifficultiestoaccessresearchandknowhowtoimplementsuch100 technologies(Nooteboom,1994;Trail,&Grunert,1997).Thisishighlyrelevantonthe101 islandofIreland(IoI)wherethevastmajorityofagri-foodorganisationsareSMEs(>90%)102 (Teagasc, 2009). 103 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT5 Thepresentstudyaimedtoinvestigate(i)theagri-foodindustrysawarenessand104 attitudestowardsnanotechnologyandapplications,(ii)theindustryscurrentusageof105 nanotechnology,(iii)theperceivedrisksandbenefitsofnanotechnologyinrelationtofood,106 (iv)nanotechnologyopportunitiesand(v)obstaclestotheadoptionofnanotechnologies107 across the IoI. It was anticipated that this study could be used as a measure of the importance108 ofnanotechnologytotheEuropeanagri-foodsectorthroughtheinclusionofmultinational109 corporations.110 111 2. Methods 112 2.1. Interviews and electronic questionnaires113 Informed by a systematic literature review (Handford et al 2014), executive interviews were114 conductedwithkeystakeholderstoexploretheresearchobjectives.Thiswascomplimented115 by an on-line survey administered to a wide range of stakeholders to enable quantification of116 severalissues.Allresponsesweregivenfromanorganisationalperspectivenotthe117 respondentsown.Thesystematicreviewinvolvedasearchofthecommerciallyavailable118 electronicdatabasesPubMed,ScopusandWebofScience(ISI)forarticlesintheEnglish119 language,publishedbetweenJanuary2008andAugust2013asthefoundationforthe120 interviewschedule.ThereviewexcludesarticlespriortoJanuary2008asChaudhryetal.,121 (2008) provides a good review of the same topic over the previous years. Specific key themes122 (nanotechnologyandfoodandapplicationoropportunityorrisk)wereselected,123 andthesearchtermsusedincludednanotechnology,application,food,agriculture,124 foodpackaging,foodproducts,foodproduction,foodprocessing,foodsafety,125 nutrition,opportunity,legislation,regulation,andrisk.Combinationsofsearch126 terms were used to identify relevant articles. Reviews (n=28) were evaluated and formed the127 basisofthesystematicreview;keyapplications,opportunitiesandchallengesof128 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT6 nanotechnologyfortheagri-foodindustrywereascertained.Specifically,themainareasof129 application of nanotechnology identified included primary production, food processing, food130 packaging, nutrition, and food safety (Figure 1).The projected benefits arising from the use131 ofnanotechnologyforagri-foodapplicationswerealsoestablished,andincluded,amongst132 otherthings,moreefficientproductionmethods,lighterandstrongerpackaging,more133 hygienic food processing and novel foods with improved flavour and textures. Potential risks134 werealsoidentifiedandwereinrelationtohumanhealth,theenvironment,public135 acceptance, information and knowledge deficits and regulation.136 Basedonthesefindings,asemi-structuredinterviewschedulewasdeveloped;an137 overview of this is presented in Table 1, with the full interview guide available upon request.138 Interviewsconsistedofsixsectionswitharangeofclosedandopenendedquestionsto139 collectinformationon:(1)demographics,(2)awarenessandattitudetonanotechnologyand140 its applications, (3) organisations current use of nanotechnology, (4) the risks and benefits of141 nanotechnology in relation to food, (5) opportunities for nanotechnology implementation, and142 (6)obstaclestotheadoptionofnanotechnologies.Inthisinstance,closedquestionswere143 mainly applied for ease of completion of the demographical questions asked at the beginning144 oftheinterview,whichprovidedimportantinformationontherespondentsorganisation145 before ascertaining their views with regards to nanotechnology. 146 Basedontheinterviewresponses,anon-linesurveywasdeveloped.Thegeneral147 structure of the survey was similar to that of the interview schedule. Likert scales were used148 tomeasureviewsondifferentaspectsofnanotechnology,andrankorderscalequestions149 utilised to obtain insight into participants priorities for specific items. Table 2 illustrates an150 overviewofthesurveydesign;outliningthespecificquestioncategories,withthemain151 questionsaskedandthetypeofquestionused.However,thefullquestionnaireisavailable152 from the research team on request. 153 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT7 Pilotinterviews(n=5)andsurveys(n=15)wereconductedtocheckfortechnical154 functioning(instructions,questionorder,responsecategories,filtersandduration)andto155 ensurecomprehensionpriortofinalisingtheprotocols.Therefore,thesearenotincludedin156 themaindatacollectionasslightmodificationsweremadetothedesignoftheprotocols157 following the pilots, including some changes to the order of the presentation and wording to158 makeitmorereadable.Thestudyprotocolsforbothresearchphaseswereapprovedbythe159 Queens University of Belfast Ethical Committee.160 161 2.2 Sampling and administration162 Adatabaseofcontactsforagri-foodorganisationsontheIoI(n=1014)wascollatedusing163 Microsoft excel following a search of numerous internet sites including Bord Bia (Irish Food164 Board),InvestNorthernIreland(NI)FoodDirectory,theNIFoodandDrinkAssociation,165 FoodandDrinkExportIreland,FoodStandardsAgency,FoodSafetyAuthorityofIreland,166 Top1000FoodandBeverageCompaniesSite,YellowPages,GoldenPagestoinvite167 stakeholders to participate in the study. Sampling included agri-food organisations on the IoI168 involvedindifferentstagesofthesupplychaintherelevantagri-foodsectorsaswellas169 public sector bodies and knowledge providers.170 Anexpressionofinterestintheprojectwasdistributedviae-mailtoallidentified171 stakeholdersonamonthlybasisfromAugusttoNovember2013.Duringthistimeperiod172 underrepresentationbyspecificsectors(primaryproduction,foodprocessing,nutrition,173 packagingandfoodsafety),organisationtypesandsizeswasaddressedthroughspecific174 targeting.Fiveinterviewswereperformedbymeansofface-to-faceinteractionandnine175 interviews by telephone from the 6th November to 5th December 2013, by one researcher for176 continuity. Interviews typically lasted between 25-40 minutes. 177 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT8 Aquestionnairewasadministeredelectronically(viaKwikSurveys)fromthe11th178 Februaryto7thMarch2014anddistributedtoallcontactsfromthestakeholderdatabase179 (n=1014) through Safefood Knowledge Networks, NI Food and Drink Association and the NI180 Grain Trade Association and social media (Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn) for completion.181 Standardapproachesweretakentoensureareasonableresponserateincludingissuing182 reminder e-mails. Participants were offered the opportunity to win an iPad as an incentive for183 completing the questionnaire. 184 185 2.3. Analysis of interview transcripts and questionnaires 186 Extensivehandwrittennotesweretakenduringallinterviews.Additionally,theinterviews187 wereaudiorecordedandtranscribedverbatim,withtheexceptionoftwointerviewswhich188 couldnotberecordedduetocompanypolicy.Eachinterviewtranscript/noteswasreadand189 rereadnumeroustimesbeforetheanalysisbegan.Thematicanalysis,anapproachfor190 identifying,analysingandreportingthemeswithinthedata,andinterpretingthesethemes191 withintheresearchaims,wasundertakenonthetranscriptsmanually(Braun,&Clarke,192 2006).193 Quantitativedatafromtheelectronicquestionnaireswasmanagedanddescriptively194 analysedusingKwikSurveys.Atotalof142respondentscompleteddetailsfortheon-line195 questionnaire,however,54responseswereeliminatedduetoinsufficientdata(i.e.lessthan196 20%ofthequestionnairewascompleted)orbecausetherespondentsorganisationwas197 outsidetheIoI.Thefinalresponseachievedwas9%(n=88)forrespondentswithfully198 completedquestionnaires.Foreachquestiontherespondentanswerswerepresentedas199 frequencies and percentages. Inference analysis of the data was performed by IBM Statistical200 Package for Social Sciences Base 21 (SPSS Inc., Armonk, New York, USA). The data entry201 was checked for errors or missing data. Cross tabulations were performed to allow analysis of202 MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTEDACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT9 the data by region, agri-food sector, stage of chain, organisation size and age of organisation.203 MeansandstandarderrorswerecalculatedforrankorderandLikert-scalequestions. 204 Comparisonsofresponsesforawareness,benefits/risks,currentuse,opportunitiesand205 obstacles of nanotechnology were performed between the groups.The Fishers exact test was206 usedtoanalysethesignificanceofassociationbetweenthevariables.Spearmanrankorder207 correlation analysis was used to investigate the strength and direction of association between208 ordinal variables (Pallant, 2010).209 210 211 3. Results 212 Intotal,asampleof14agri-foodorganisationsacrosstheIoIparticipatedinthe213 interviews.Theintervieweeswererepresentativeoftheagri-foodsectorfromprimary214 production (n=4 in group one), food processing (n=4 in group two), packaging (n=3 in group215 three), nutrition (n=1 in group four) and food safety (n=1 in group five). 216 The demographic information of the respondents completing the on-line questionnaire217 ispresentedinTable3.Agri-foodorganisationslocatedinNIandtheRepublicofIreland218 (ROI)representedequalnumbersofthesample,whichwasthoughttobeunder219 representativeoftheIrishagri-foodsectorconsideringthereareahighernumberof220 companies in the ROI. As expected, the vast majority of the cohort was SMEs (86%), which221 comprise over 90% of the Irish food sector (Teagasc, 2009). SMEs are defined according to222 the European Union (EU) definition (micro