Will 3D Food Printing Re-shape the Food Industry?

Abstract

Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D-printing, is an upcoming production technique based on layer-by-layer deposition of material to reproduce a computer generated 3D design. In many industries, 3D printing revolutionized the manufacturing process, offered innovative products as well as revisited the distribution chain. In this presentation, we will discuss the state of the art in food printing. An overview of the different technologies will be given, in particular extrusion printing, selective laser sintering and powder bed printing. For each technology the ingredient and material requirements are presented and the opportunities for food structuring and processing are discussed. The examples illustrate how 3D food printing offers the food industry possibilities for flexible, decentral