Food Printing

Every now and then a technology arrives that appears truly incredible. At present, such a development is in process, and it all began with simple printers, the likes of which one could acquire at home office furniture vendors such as Ryman.

The technology in question is the amazing 3D printing. Three dimensional printers are a theory that involves using printers to fabricate vertically instead of only in horizontal layers. So far the principal application has been in manufacturing, enabling designers to produce their designs in full 3D.

Admittedly this is pretty cool in itself, it seems that making your own iPhone holder was just the start of things to come.

One theory that is presently being worked on is the utilization of three dimensional printers for medicine. Bioprinting uses human tissue instead of ink to build skin grafts, cartilage, and even – one day – complete organs.

An additional, equally unusual and incredibly futuristic approach is being developed by a group of US researchers who are attempting to print food. Food printing is based on using specific pre-created gels into three dimensional printers, the printer then prints the gels together into any design, and after a short period cooking, you can enjoy a truly original meal.

The brains behind the business have big plans. They're trying a range of fundamental food substances which can be printed, the hope is that celebrity chefs will produce products for people who would like to print food, and in the long run, that social networks will share food printing recipes, so that meals like your mother's apple pie can be recreated simply by people all over the globe.

Of course, an additional bonus of this concept is that it may save enormously on packaging, which is particularly relevant at the moment, and as all you would have to do is purchase the basic 'inks' yourself, it may lead to much healthier food. And, if you think it's merely a sideshow at present, there are already sushi chefs out there who have printed meals using adapted inkjet printers! This truly is food technology at it's finest.

Laszlo Fisher is a self confessed geek with an all consuming passion for gadgets.He recommends Ryman if you're in the market for printers or indeed home office furniture.