3D Printer makes food that “Grows” the Food Industry

Soon, stuff will be growing out of your 3D food. 

Chloé Rutzerveld, in collaboration with the Eindhoven University of Technology and research organisation TNO, has made regular 3D food printing outdated, by taking it to the next level. How, you may ask, is something that comes from a printer, supposed to grow on its own? Check out this video that will probably help us explain this better. 

“Healthy and sustainable” 3D-printed snacks that sprout plants and mushrooms for flavour. Hmm. we’re liking the sound of that. The Edible Growth project consists of 3D-printed shapes containing a mixture of seeds, spores and yeast, which will start to grow after only a few days. “As it comes out of the 3D printer you can really see the straight lines of the technology. But as it develops, you can see organic shapes. You can see the stages of growth and the development of taste and flavour,” she says.

“By 3D printing food you can make the production chain very short, the transport will be less, there is less land needed. But also you can experiment with new structures. You can surprise the consumer with new food and things that haven’t been done before,” Rutzerveld adds. 

“It will take at least another eight to ten years before this can be on the market,” she concedes. “The technologies really need to be developed much further.”- so in a few years your 3D pizza might be able to grow some more cheese and toppings. We’ll live with that.