In an interview with the German business magazine Wirtschaftswoche (WiWo) (14th January 2010), Dr Steffi Friedrichs, Director General of the Nanotechnology Industries Association (NIA), warns of the potentially negative effects resulting from ill-designed product labels: ‘if the ‘nano’-label is placed on the front of a product pack, it would turn into a ‘warning-label’, she comments on the draft recast of the ‘Novel Foods’ regulation.
The WiWo-article reports the results of a survey conducted by the Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen (vzbv) (German Federation of Consumer Associations), which showed last autumn that 64 percent of Germans regarded nanotechnology a positive technology; 87 percent of the same surveyed also expressed fears of potential health threats through nanotechnology.
Ruediger Iden, Senior Vice-President of BASF commented: ‘In Germany, nanotechnology enjoys a higher acceptance than in the USA.’ But public support is ‘fragile and could quickly tumble into negative perception’, notes Antje Grobe from the University of Stuttgart and the Nanodialogue (Stiftung Risiko-Dialogue, St Gallen, Switzerland).
Follow this link to read the full WiWo-article.
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The European Union Council approved the updated European Cosmetics Regulation, agreeing with the text (on nanomaterials) adopted by the European Parliament in March 2009. The approved text requires the manufacturers of new cosmetic products containing nanomaterials to notify the European Commission (EC) and provide certain information six months before the product is placed on the European market. (30th November 2009)
The German Umweltbundesamt (UBA) (Federal Environmental Agency) has published a clarifying contribution to yesterday’s media-frenzy following the publication of a Spiegel-Online article (21st October 2009, 7:08), according to which the German Federal Environmental Agency apparently ‘advised consumers to be particularly vigilant when using products containing nanoparticles, until more was known about the materials’ effect on the environment and human health.’ (22nd October 2009)
The Council of the European Union has approved a political agreement on a draft regulation concerning novel foods. (22nd June 2009)
‘Industry has been upfront about its use of promising new technologies and that companies go to great lengths to ensure products are safe’, confirms Steffi Friedrichs, director of the Nanotechnology Industries Association, at a Trans Atlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) event, held in Brussels on the 10th June 2009. (15th June 2009)