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Science and technology at the nanoscale promises to be among the most revolutionary scientific fields in decades. It has been marked as having the potential to provide many novel solutions to both emerging and existing global problems such as energy production, and food and clean water shortages. This article is a brief review of the current state, future directions and safety/consumer/public issues of potential uses of nanotechnologies in the food sector. Science and technology at the nanoscale level, i.e., "nanotechnology", is generally defined as any technology that deals with objects within the range from 1 to approximately 100 nm when those objects, in addition to their small size, exhibits properties and phenomena not seen at a larger scale of the same materials. Various definitions sometimes also include connotation wording that includes the intentional aspect of creating a nano material, i.e. that there is an underlying thought and technological possibility to create the desired size and characteristics (e.g. engineered or manufactured). "Natural" nano materials are usually excluded in the discussion of "nanotechnology" as are most biological processes, e.g., synthesis of proteins, which take place at the nanoscale level. Several proposals for definitions are discussed in various national and international settings, but an agreed definition is yet to evolve. The need for an enforceable definition is often raised by regulatory bodies, and currently, this is frequently based on size (or metrics derived from size such as specific surface area).