3D printed food?

8

October

2021

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How does 3D food printing work?

Exclusive 3D printing restaurants are already a thing , while consumers can buy their own 3D food printers for their home! But, first and foremost, let’s explain what 3D food printing actually means. It is defined as the automated process of manufacturing food products using a variety of additive manufacturing techniques. The most common example of this currently is food grade syringes that hold the printing material, while a food grade nozzle deposits it layer by layer, the so-called extrusion-based printing technique. Additional printing techniques include selective laser sintering, in which powdered food materials are heated and bonded together to form a solid structure and binder jetting, which is similar in nature but uses a liquid binder instead of heat to bond the materials. Sometimes there are post-processes needed such as baking or frying, before the food is safe and ready for consumption.

Which foods can be 3D printed?

Not all foods can be 3D printed of course, at least at this point in time with the currently available technologies. The reason for this is that food materials need to be in paste-like form in order to be able to go into the cartridge, thus limiting the options significantly. Consequently, the types of foods that 3D printing is focused in right now come from inputs of purées, mousses and other sugary ingredients, cheeses, mashes and raw meats. On top of these, some companies are also creating 3D printed pizzas and pasta, or even burgers and sushi.

What are the benefits of 3D printing?

One of the important benefits provided by this process is the ability to cater to people with dietary restrictions, as the ingredients can be handpicked and personalized to each person’s needs and wants. The company Barilla for example, is using 3D printing technology to experiment with gluten-free pasta options. Moreover, 3D printed food can be healthier, as it provides the option of putting a custom amount of protein, sugar, vitamins, and minerals into the foods we consume. In a similar context, 3D printing can assist in reducing food waste by utilizing otherwise “useless” food products like meat off-cuts, distorted vegetables and fruits, sea food by-products and perishables, which can all be turned into a suitable form to be used in printing. For instance, Upprinting Food, a Dutch startup, has already been blending and combining different ingredients from food waste and turning them into materials for 3D printing.

Possible uses for 3D printing in the future?

The precision that can be achieved through this technology could prove to be very beneficial to hospitals for example in the future, where restricted diets may be a necessity. Another field that can benefit greatly from 3D printed food is space travel. The compactness and ease of use, as well as the ability to fulfill all the necessary nutritional requirements of astronauts, make 3D printing the ideal solution to cover the crew’s dietary needs. Lastly, 3D printing can be used to provide a sustainable food source to the world, by assisting in the effort to cover the immense and growing need for food due to the rapid increase of the world’s population.

All in all, 3D printing food is an innovative and exciting technology that has a lot of potential to disrupt industries that span several sectors and might seem totally unrelated at first glance. In reality though, 3D printed food is still in its infancy and needs to see a lot more advancement in its field before seeing a broader adoption from professionals and consumers.

References:

Carolo, L. 3D Printed Food (2021): All You Need to Know. all3dp (2021). Available at: https://all3dp.com/2/3d-printed-food-3d-printing-food/ (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

3dsourced (2021) ‘7 Exciting 3D Printed Food Projects Changing How We Eat Forever’. Available at: https://www.3dsourced.com/guides/3d-printed-food/  (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

Tom, M. 3D Printed Pasta – Are There Limits to the Benefits of 3D Printing in the Food Sector? digital.hbs.edu (2018). Available at: https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/3d-printed-pasta-are-there-limits-to-the-benefits-of-3d-printing-in-the-food-sector/ (Accessed: 08 October 2021).

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Will blockchain technology revolutionize the food supply chain industry?

26

September

2021

No ratings yet.

There is no one who denies that blockchain is going to disrupt many sectors. With the emerge of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) everyone will have access to financial services (e.g. trading, lending, borrowing, payments) in the future without the fulfilling the requirements of traditional financial entities (Sheinix, 2020). However, besides DeFi there is another huge real-world blockchain application that might benefit our safety, health and climate; food supply chain traceability.

Today’s food producing companies seek for a more precise and accurate supply chain food traceability as their consumers are demanding that their food is both safe and environmental-friendly produced. Take for instance the outbreak of the E. coli outbreak that was linked to Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants, which was caused by the lack of transparency across their supply chain. In addition, the global damage as a result of ‘food fraud’ and lack of food traceability is estimated at $50b per annum (Bindt, 2016). Traceability refers to tracking the whole process from production to consumption; it is all about safe food trade, ensure trust among supply chain participants and to prevent future disease outbreaks. 

There are several reasons of why blockchain technology will contribute to a greener and safer food supply chain. First, blockchain technology provides better traceability. All food trades and concerned transactions cannot be deleted afterwards or hidden as every change is tracked, recorded and showed to the all blockchain network participants (e.g. producer, distributor, supermarkets, and consumers). Second, blockchain technology stores all data in a decentralized ledger. This means that there is no single server or entity who has the power to keep food information hidden; multiple copies across the world are saved on different computers. (Civati, 2021) As the fundamental core competences of blockchain technology relies on trust, transparency and no need for central authority, this technology are particularly helpful with: 

  • Hampering food damage or preventing food fraud
  • Realizing on-time mass  recalls of contaminated food as more accurate and precise food information is provided
  • Decreasing food spoiling
  • Stimulating food companies to produce fair-trade food and pay their suppliers fair prices for the products they buy. 
  • Strengthening the relationship between food companies and their customers. 

Although the potential of blockchain technology on the food supply chain seems promising, there is one main limitation to consider. In order to successfully adapt blockchain in the food supply chain, the overall cost of implementing such a technology is highly unpredictable because of its relative young existence (Simal-Gandara, Galvez, & Mejuto, 2018). Nevertheless, as major companies such as Walmart and Nestlé adopting blockchain technology, I truly that more companies will follow them in order to achieve a common goal; a safer and healthier life for all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV0KXBxSoio
Video 1: Walmart’s food safety solution using IBM Food Trust built on the IBM Blockchain Platform

References:

Sheinix. (2020, January 27). DeFi: The Future of Finance? From Medium: https://medium.com/swlh/defi-the-future-of-finance-757c35a2bcfd

Bindt, V. (2016). Costs and benefits of the Food Fraud Vulnerability Assessment in the Dutch food supply chain.Wageningen : Wageningen University.

Civati, A. (2021, April 9). Blockchain & Food Traceability. From LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blockchain-food-traceability-alessandro-civati/

Simal-Gandara, J., Galvez, J., & Mejuto, J. (2018). Future challenges on the use of blockchain for food traceability analysis. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry , 222-232.

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Will 3D food printing become as popular as the microwave?

7

October

2018

No ratings yet. Probably the answer is no (is it?), but there are some aspects to 3D food printing that will likely cause this technology to disrupt the food industry.

3D printing is already commonly used to create simple objects. For some nice examples, take a look at https://bit.ly/2qnfpij. However when it comes to 3D food printing, the technology faces some barriers. Printing chocolate or dough is probably not very complex, but some types of food will require a longer and complex process. The most common designs require successive layers of ingredient to cool, leading to long wait times (Straw, 2015). In addition achieving the right texture and flavour for e.g. meat is a lot harder. Moreover, people are very conservative when it comes to food and might not readily accept these “printed meals”.

Nevertheless the technology is very promising. Firstly, creativity is boosted. Think about beautiful shapes or even replicates of pictures that can be made. Secondly, food sustainability is addressed. Alternative but unpleasant ingredients (e.g. algae, duckweed, grass, mealworm) could be used. If these ingredients are mixed in the shape of a cookie, people might actually eat it. Moreover, it is claimed that it would reduce food waste. For example the cartridges could be made environmentally friendly. Thirdly, nutritional customizability is possible which provides solutions for healthy and personalized dieting by allowing users to choose the amounts of calcium, protein, omega-3, and carbohydrates in their meals.

CEO of byFlow, a Dutch company selling and producing 3D Food Printers, announced they want to investigate more into healthier capsules with less or no sugar and no preservatives and into fresh vegetables and fruits. As such, 3D printing could also reinforce a healthy lifestyle. Especially for families who find cooking too time-consuming.

Considering these drawbacks and benefits, what part of the food industry would face the biggest threat by this technology? Grocery shops, bakeries and patisseries, food catering (e.g. for nursing homes), high-end or average restaurants or maybe fast-food chains and budget-friendly food chains?

Sources:

https://disruptionhub.com/disrupted-food-why-3d-printed-food-is-the-future-of-food/

https://blogthinkbig.com/3d-printing-food

https://www.foodingredientsfirst.com/news/3d-food-printing-verstegen-becomes-the-worlds-first-supplier-of-fillings.html

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