Food packaging is a key factor of economic, environmental and public health importance in the food field. Nanotechnologies can contribute to improving the food packaging by modifying the permeability, increasing the barrier properties of packaging materials, conferring antimicrobial properties, increasing thermal resistance. Nanotechnology can also provide solutions forsensing, signaling microbiological and biochemical changes in food. There are concerns about the safety of packaging in terms of the migration of unwanted substances, including nanoparticles, into food. Adverse effects of nanoparticles are toxicity and, possible, genotoxicity, carcinogenicity. In the current review, we summarize some of existing data on the benefits and risks of nanotechnology applications to the food packing sector.