3D food printer can change the way humans cook food

Scientists at Columbia University are developing a three dimensional (3D) food printer that will change the way humans cook food.

The prototype, which anyone could mistake for a coffee machine, will produce edible items through computer-based software. The team has already created food through their 3D printing appliance.

Hod Lipson, a mechanical engineering professor at Columbia who's leading the project, believes that food printers are not meant to replace conventional cooking. They will not solve all of our nutritional needs, nor cook everything we should eat.

"But they will produce an infinite variety of customized fresh, nutritional foods on demand, transforming digital recipes and basic ingredients supplied in frozen cartridges into healthy dishes that can supplement our daily intake," Lipson adds.

The printer is fitted out with a robotic arm that holds eight slots for frozen food cartridges. Researchers are now working on incorporating an infrared heating element into the arm.

Unlike conventional oven cooking, the 3D printer will be able to cook various ingredients at different temperatures and different durations, all controlled by new software being developed by scientists.