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Study on micro & nano-plastics to help understand contaminants in various food matrices
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Monday, 25 August, 2025, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Ashwani Maindola, New Delhi
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A study on micro and nano-plastics as emerging food contaminants is being conducted by the Ministry of Health for establishing validated methods to be used in lab analysis. Commissioned through the FSSAI, the study would help the experts in understanding the prevalence of such contaminants in various Indian food matrices.
Further, it is learnt that the study would also help in developing a surveillance and determination plan with respect to the exposure levels of micro-/nano-plastics in identified food products.
According to experts, the evidence shows that plastics shed into what people eat and drink, but methods to measure them, especially the smallest particles, are still evolving and India needs validated, Indian-context methods so results are comparable across labs and courts.
Also, the exposure looks different in India in diet, processing, climate, and packaging types. A baseline for Indian foods would help risk assessors focus on the biggest contributors here, not just
copy data from other countries.
Ashwin Bhadri, CEO, Equinox Labs, says, "That’s exactly what the project states, a map prevalence across diverse food matrices and identify sources. Global science has moved fast on nanoplastics which are far smaller than a typical dust speck. New imaging methods, like Stimulated Raman Scattering (SRS) are finding large counts in bottled water. Regulators need to know what these counts mean in real foods, and what reliable lab methods look like."
Bhadri added that there isn’t complete global consensus on the exact size cut-off, which is one reason methods and risk assessment are being standardised now.
It is pertinent to mention that the plastic contaminant is any unintended plastic material, particles or fragments present in food. It can come from packaging, processing equipment, storage, transport, or the environment. Microplastics are usually defined as plastic particles smaller than 5 millimetres, often down to a few micrometres (µm). Nanoplastics are much smaller again, typically below 1 micrometre (1,000 nanometres); some definitions use <100 nm.
Bhadri elaborates that microplastics can shed particles or allow additives to migrate, especially when hot food or fatty food contacts certain plastics for long durations.
"Let me give you two examples. According to research by NIH, bottled water, a 2024 study using SRS microscopy found, on average, 240,000 plastic particles per litre in sampled bottled waters, 90% of them nano-plastics. That doesn’t automatically equal harm, but it shows how small particles can be present. Also, certain plastic tea bags, after the lab work, have shown very high numbers of micro and nano-plastic particles that can be released when steeped at 95°C. However, not all tea bags are made the same, the finding was strongest for specific polymer mesh bags at brewing
temperatures. India already limits overall chemical migration from plastic packaging when tested with food simulants and time/temperature protocols, but those standards target chemicals, not direct
particle counts of micro/nanoplastics. So particle monitoring is the new frontier this study is addressing," said Bhadri.
But the experts feel that there is a need for upgradation of the lab protocols and the study would help in the same, as the packaging rules already require overall migration testing (chemicals moving from plastic into food).
"We now need complementary particle-centric methods standardised ways to collect, isolate, count, size, and identify micro/nanoplastics in foods not just water. That includes clean-lab practices, field/lab blanks, and size-resolved reporting so results are comparable across labs. The EU/JRC specifically notes that only a few standards are in place and more harmonisation is required; India will benefit by adapting and validating these for our foods. Most legacy methods struggle below 20-50 µm. Yet recent studies show that the majority of particles in some samples are nano-scale. Building capacity for SRS or equivalent high-resolution spectroscopy, and creating inter-lab comparisons and reference materials, should be part of the roadmap. Spices, edible oils, ghee, dairy, ready-to-eat foods, each needs matrix-specific digestion, recovery checks, and QA/QC, rather than relying on water-centric protocols from abroad," concluded Bhadri.
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