Trying to keep your cravings for unhealthy snacks and junk food in check? A 3D printer churning out appetising and nutritious food right off the counter may soon be the perfect solution. The first edible and helahtly ‘3D printed foods’ were ‘living biscuits’, made from dough-shaped pastry shells. The printer embedded the shell with seeds, yeast answer spores from which plants answer mushrooms sprouted over the following three to five days- and after fermentation and photosynthesis, they add flavour to the biscuits.
After that, 3D printed quick-fix foods- such as burger parties, mini-pizzas and muffins- came to the fore several years ago. Now, a more nutritious , microwave-sized printer- called the Foodini – is in the works, which has been created by a team of Dutch designers as part of their Edible Growth Project.
To use the Foodini, all you have to do is enter the recipe of your choice into its memory and then fill the printer’s input containers with the required raw ingredients. Once done, the Foodini will ‘print’ the food of your choice into the output tray. However, although some foods will be ready to eat- such as cookies and chocolate mousse – other printed foods will have to be boiled , grilled or fried through conventional cooking methods before eating. These include burger parties, gingerbread cakes, gnocchi, hash browns and pizza.
The Foodini allows you to measure and adjust the quantity of each ingredient used and will display a list of nutrients present in the food. This is particularly beneficial in ‘printing’customised recipes for people with allergies, special nutritional requirements or medical conditions.
While the technology is still in its testing phase, scientists and nutritionists believe that once the Foodini is used commercially, it will go a long way in solving the world’s food crisis by creating affordable and nutritious food everyone.
By Sadia Kamran