3D printers allow you to print prosthetics, blood vessels, car parts, houses, and even… food! How is this possible? What kind of food is already “printed”?
It is important to note that 3D printers are still not, and will not be able to produce food for a long time to come. When we talk about 3D food, we mean food products to which the printer simply gives a specific form.
Food printing is nothing but the process of changing the form of a material through a 3D printer. The latter uses a suitable “food material”, which should have the consistency of a puree or paste. Such a material is, for example, vegetables such as spinach or broccoli, as well as chocolate. It allows the printer to produce almost any object that is suitable for consumption.
Currently, chocolate printers are quite popular and are used to make decorations for cakes and desserts. 3D printing technology has also been used on a larger scale to make pizza, pasta, cookies and other sweets. We can expect the range of food applications of 3D printing to expand in the coming years – after all, it allows us to produce aesthetic-looking products quickly and at low cost. Are we about to see competition for artisan confectioners?
