Antimicrobial packaging leaches silver into foods

Antimicrobial packaging could help extend the shelf life of food, prevent illnesses, and reduce food waste. While there has been commercial interest in plastic food packaging containing antimicrobial silver nanoparticles , it is not approved in the US or Europe. That caution might be warranted, according to new research that shows that silver escapes from nanoparticle-containing plastic packaging to the food it holds ( ACS Food Sci. Technol. 2025, DOI: 10.1021 /acsfoodscitech.4c00813 ). People have used silver for disinfection and medical treatment for centuries. But increased use of engineered nanosilver in health-care and consumer products in recent decades has raised concerns because scientists don’t fully understand the effect of its exposure on humans and other organisms. These concerns are why US Food and Drug Administration research scientist Timothy Duncan and colleagues wanted to analyze whether silver nanoparticles stay put in food packaging. They have previously studied the leakage of silver