The team use food purees of broccoli, chicken and bread to give a protein boost to their elderly diners. The printed food is then baked in the oven before being served to the participants.
“We want the food for dysphagia to look just like normal food, so they know what they are eating,” says Höglund. “Achieving the same goal by hand is too time-consuming in a commercial kitchen. That’s why we want to 3D print it.”
In Asia, a university in Singapore has attempted to recreate some of the country’s most popular foods and signature dishes as a sensory solution for older people. The joint project between Singapore Polytechnic’s Food Innovation and Resource Centre and SIT-Massey University used 3D printing to create a version of chicken rice for older people that was fortified with calcium, chicken and broccoli puree. The result was a ginger-yellow coloured drumstick, surrounded by white and green puree meticulously printed to resemble rice and broccoli. The team also created 3D printed durians – a large and hugely popular fruit in Asia – with reduced sugar, and a chilli crab dish intended to resemble the original in taste and texture.
“We conducted consumer insight gathering in the initial phase of our research, to understand the needs of the silver-agers; specifically, foods that they love but restricted in consumption due to health concerns,” says Evelyn Ong, production innovation manager at Singapore Polytechnic’s Food Innovation and Resource Centre.
But despite the excitement around projects like those in Germany, Singapore and Sweden, 3D food printing is still relatively early in development and some way from a viable commercial product.
Biozoon’s Kück says they encountered difficulties ensuring the printed food had the same quality when using cauliflower puree, as printers perform differently in varying room temperatures, and it took too long to print all the meals. When feeding residents in a large nursing home, that could be a problem.
The project has instead led to another company that is focused on 3D printing of chocolates instead.
