3D printed carrots made by the Dutch research organisation TNO. TNO
The media have also reported on the potential
for 3D printing to cater for astronauts, air
travellers and people in emergency situations.
Nursing homes in Europe are offering
3D printed food with jelly-like texture for
residents with chewing and swallowing
difficulties. Developers of 3D food printers
claim that people will soon have these devices
in their kitchens, helping them prepare tasty
and healthy foods at home.
A 3D food printer was demonstrated at the
2014 Consumer Electronics Show in the US.
But that’s not all. There’s also the radical idea
of using insects and laboratory-grown meat in
3D printed food as a sustainable alternative to
traditional protein sources.
Meat and Livestock Australia also recently
announced that it is looking into ways to use
3D printing to produce new meat products to
extract the most value from animal carcasses.
Would you try it, or offer it to family members
or gue sts? Despite industry enthusiasm and
investment in research and development,
few studies have asked these questions of
consumers.
To investigate these issues, we conducted our
own research with 30 Australians, using an
online focus group. The results highlight some
interesting complications in the way many
people perceive 3D printed foods, and what
might tempt them to try some.
First, we found that none of the participants
had heard of using 3D printing technology
to make food products. As 3D printing
technologies were usually associated with
inedible objects made from substances such
as plastic, plaster or metal, it was difficult for
our participants to understand how they might
work with foodstuffs.
So, it is not far-fetched to imagine serving a
Christmas lunch with 3D printed food made
from red meat and poultry, or decorative
edible items made from fruit or vegetable
purees, sugar or chocolate. They were initially incredulous that this
technology could be used for making food and
couldn’t imagine what kinds of foods would
be produced. This manner of food processing
was viewed as highly unnatural, with several
assuming that the resulting food would be
somehow “plastic” and therefore inedible.
But would you eat it?
What do you think about 3D printed food? Our participants were far more positive about
3D printed carrots, pasta, pizza, chocolate and
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