The brave new future of food
Scientists and visionaries are coming up with incredible advances every day and things that only recently seemed locked in science fiction may soon be served up in kitchens and restaurants.
3D PRINTING
3D printing was a mind-blowing concept to many of us not too long ago, but as technology often goes, it is hurtling forward, and now promises to revolutionise the way we eat within 10 to 20 years. Hod Lipson, a professor of engineering from Colombia University and co-author of Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printingrecently addressed the audience at a symposium hosted by the Institute of Food Technologists in Chicago. Speaking via video link, Professor Hopson said that 3D printing is a good fit for the food industry because it allows manufacturers to bring complexity and variety to consumers at a low cost.
One way this could be done, he explained, was for users to choose a recipe from a large online database, insert a cartridge with the ingredients into their 3D printer at home, and sit back while the printer creates the dish just for that person. “The user could customise it to include extra nutrients or replace one ingredient with another,” he explained.
Within this futuristic industry, scientists and innovators are also focusing on niche areas for 3D printing. Some are working towards producing healthier, safer meat products that don’t cause any harm to animals, others crowdsourcing for creative new pasta shapes, and one company has received funding from the European Union to produce “smoothfood” for elderly people in nursing homes who have trouble swallowing.
Testing a pizza from a 3D printer
STEM CELL BURGERS
In a weird twist on ‘one with the lot’, Scientists in the Netherlands are refining their cultured ground beef burger patty, which was created by using stem cells from cows to grow muscle fibre shaped like a doughnut. From that process came a burger patty consistent in look, texture and colour. The goal now is to have it tasty enough so that people actually want to eat it. But those that are happy to eat stem cell meat will probably be put off by the current price tag: $400,000 — another issue that the team are now working on.
Mark Post, a Dutch scientist, poses for a photograph while holding the world's first beef burger created from stem cells. Photo: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg via Getty Images Source: Getty Images
TEST TUBE CHICKEN BREAST
It’s not just burgers that get all the scientific glory though. Biomedical engineer, Amet Gefen is on his way to creating a lab-grown chicken breast, fit for vegetarians.
Gefen aims to control the texture and the juiciness of the breast while controlling factors to minimise their effect on the human body. Cultured meat products also have the potential to have a huge impact with their positive environmental benefits by reducing energy costs, water consumption, the production of greenhouse gases, and the need to for livestock and land space.
ALTERNATIVE TO CHEMICAL PRESERVATIVES
As we become more informed and increasingly wary of chemical preservatives, another method known as high pressure processing (HPP) is being worked on to increase the shelf life of food while retaining more freshness, nutrients and flavour. While 300 of these machines are already being used commercially, biologist, Carole Tonello is part of a team working on improving the technology and affordability of this process to make it more widely available and massively reduce the use of chemical preservatives.
ELIMINATING FOOD CONTAMINATION RECALLS
Many of us have had that moment when something that we regularly stock in our pantry has been recalled due to contamination, and what we envision is never pretty. IBM research scientist, James Kaufman is leading the way on eliminating the need for this by cataloguing all of the active genes that exist right through the food manufacture and distribution process, both under normal conditions and contamination. By doing this, it creates a wealth of data which samples can be analysed against to identify contamination before it gets to consumers, stopping the need for recalls and widespread panic.
It’s a brave new world for foodies, but if we can print off some chips to go with our test tube burgers, it’ll be a much easier transition for all of us.
Source: News Limited, July 31st 2015
Originally published as: The brave new future of food
