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Review
. 2025 Jul 29;14(15):2657.
doi: 10.3390/foods14152657.

Nanomaterials for Smart and Sustainable Food Packaging: Nano-Sensing Mechanisms, and Regulatory Perspectives

Arjun Muthu  1   2 , Duyen H H Nguyen  1   3   4 , Chaima Neji  5 , Gréta Törős  3   6 , Aya Ferroudj  3 , Reina Atieh  1   2 , József Prokisch  3 , Hassan El-Ramady  3   7 , Áron Béni  2
Affiliations
Review

Nanomaterials for Smart and Sustainable Food Packaging: Nano-Sensing Mechanisms, and Regulatory Perspectives

Arjun Muthu et al. Foods. .

Abstract

The global food industry is facing growing pressure to enhance food safety, extend shelf life, minimize waste, and adopt environmentally sustainable packaging solution. Nanotechnology offers innovative ways to meet these demands by enabling the creation of smart and sustainable food packaging systems. Due to their unique properties, nanomaterials can significantly enhance the functional performance of packaging by boosting mechanical strength, barrier efficiency, antimicrobial activity, and responsiveness to environmental stimuli. This review provides a comprehensive overview of nanomaterials used as smart and sustainable food packaging, focusing on their role in active and intelligent packaging systems. By integrating nanomaterials like metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, carbon-based nanostructures, and nano-biopolymers, packaging can now perform real-time sensing, spoilage detection, and traceability. These systems improve food quality management and supply chain transparency while supporting global sustainability goals. The review also discusses potential risks related to nanomaterials' migration, environmental impact, and consumer safety, as well as the current regulatory landscape and limitations in industrial scalability. Emphasis is placed on the importance of standardized safety assessments and eco-friendly design to support responsible innovation. Overall, nano-enabled smart packaging represents a promising strategy for advancing food safety and sustainability. Future developments will require collaboration across disciplines and robust regulatory frameworks to ensure the safe and practical application of nanotechnology in food systems.

Keywords: active and intelligent packaging; circular economy; food safety; food system.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 4
Figure 4
Advantages of the application of nanotechnology in food packaging.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Types of smart food packaging and their key features for food preservation.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Nano-enabled sensing technologies in smart food packaging and their primary function.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Primary categories of nanomaterials commonly used in nano-smart packaging.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Green sources for food packaging nanomaterials.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The role of nanotechnology in the future of food packaging.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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