3D Food Printing – Future Food!

Hi Everyone! Hope all are doing good and safe from COVID19. Today I wish to discuss about a digitally controlled robotic construction process that can build up complex 3D food products layer by layer. It is known as “3D Food Printing”. In this present scenario where we find food going “out of stock” I hope technologies like this to some extend can help in managing the food scarcity because it helps in converting alternative ingredients such as proteins from algae, beet leaves, or insects into tasty products. Moreover, it opens up the door of food customization based on individual needs and preferences which can be healthy as well as good for environment. For example, it can create a soft textured food with an appetizing look which will be mostly preferred by the elderly ones.

How it’s done?

The additive manufacturing technology has been applied to directly construct physical model from 3D model without mould and die.  This technology is not only used in food industry but also in the automobile and aerospace industry for the manufacturing of complicated parts. The food is printed through several syringes using food materials such as sugar, chocolate and cheese to create designed shape layer by layer. This unique design pattern of complex food model is produced based on either extrusion printing or binder jetting or inkjet printing. Scientists have done a detailed review for categorizing printability, productivity, properties of material and mechanism of 3D food printing techniques and also provided the direction of future development as well.

The 3D food printing has started a revolution in cooking by precisely mixing, depositing, and cooking layers of ingredients, so that users can easily and rapidly experiment with different material combinations. With this technology, food can be designed and fabricated to meet individual needs on health condition and physical activities through controlling the amount of printing material and nutrition content.

Pitayachaval, P., Sanklong, N., & Thongrak, A. (2018). A Review of 3D Food Printing Technology.   In MATEC Web of Conferences (Vol. 213, p. 01012). EDP Sciences.

https://nypost.com/2020/02/27/does-this-3d-printed-steak-taste-like-the-real-thing/