Did You Know Food Can Be Printed?
How did you feel when you read the title above? This is our guess; Really! How could food be printed? You know right! Hearing the word food printing will somehow sound strange. When it’s not a conference banner or that house party flyer! For “food technologists”, this phenomenon resonates now more than ever. And by the way, if you still think food technology is about cooking meals, sorry to burst your bubble, you are wrong! You should definitely check out this article on what food technology is all about. Now, let us go into what 3D food printing is.
What is 3D food printing?
The method of making three-dimensional items from digital data is known as 3D printing, sometimes known as additive manufacturing. Objects are built up one layer at a time, and 3D printers can produce complicated designs quickly. This is very fast compared to traditional manufacturing methods.
Likewise, 3D food printing is the automation of a meal production process through an additive process. 3D food printing refers to the process of creating food items using additive manufacturing techniques.
How does it work?
The other question that might be in your mind is how does 3D food printing work? Well just like any other 3D printer! A 3D printer works by printing different layers of already programmed models in it. 3D printing of food is similar to when you print filament with a standard Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printer. In that, a viscous substance is deposited onto a surface to generate a finished product.
Simply put, a food 3D printer warms up edible components before printing them layer by layer on the build plate. Another technique, similar to Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing, is to employ dry powder components that are subsequently solidified by the food 3D printer. Food-grade syringes are typically used to store the printing material, which is subsequently deposited layer by layer through a food-grade nozzle.
Which foods can be 3d printed and ingredients needed?
According to Wikipedia, the printing technique available will determine the type of food to be printed. For an extrusion-based printing ingredient, they must be soft enough to extrude from a syringe/printhead and have a high viscosity to retain a shape. These materials include;
jelly,
cheese,
mashed potatoes,
frosting, and
puree.
To increase the viscosity of these materials during printing, powdered ingredients like sugar, flour, protein, etc. can be added.
When using an inkjet printing method, the ingredients to be used must have low viscosity. They are mainly used for surface filing. This includes;
coloured food ink
sauces (hot sauce, pizza, mustard, ketchup, etc.)
Ingredients for selective laser sintering and binder jetting method are powdered. They are;
Chocolate powder
Sugar
Protein powder
This is very enlightening and educative, meanwhile, I believe there should be a side effect to 3D printing of food substances. Considering the equipment used for this printing, what are the components? Are they safe enough for consumption, because materials like lead and some other compounds if the particles are mixed with our food and consumed could cause cancer and other health issues.... I understand that technology is advancing exponentially, we need to consider the health implications as we explore them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I learned about 3D printing of food for the first time.
Interesting article. Never heard of this before.
ReplyDeleteThanks to the editorial crew.