Food Wastage can be Transformed to 3D-Printed Snacks

India is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables. We produce more and we waste more. Due to short shelf life the fruits and vegetables get spoiled quickly and creates the problems of the pathogens and microbes.

World wide it is mentioned that the one third food wastage is calculated. To save this wastage, the3 idea of the 3D printed snacks is the good idea.

The technology has made it possible to convert the residual food waste into the 3D printed snacks, which were shown in the October 2018 food show.

Around a third of the food we produce around the world goes to waste. It is sad but true. However, one tech-minded foodie has created eye-catching 3D printed concoctions from residual food.

Dutch designer Elzelinde van Doleweerd’s Upprinting Food project aims to trim back on food waste by taking unsold or commonly overabundant food like fruit, vegetables, bread and rice and using the latest tech to put a new spin on things.

By creating printable pastes from the foods, she’s able to form attractive shapes that are then baked, dehydrated and arranged to form attractive meals with a longer shelf life. Ripe bananas and knobbly carrots that aren’t pretty enough to be sold are prime candidates for the 3D Food Company’s advanced printer.

“I boil the vegetables and fruit peels, dry the bread or use the boiled rice. The ingredients are mashed, mixed together, ground and sieved. A smooth paste can be printed and baked afterwards.”

The dehydration technique is used “so no bacterial activity can take place,” she says. “This way the food is safe to eat and we can save it for a very long period.”

Around a third of the world’s food is lost or thrown away every year — that’s approximately 1.6 billion tons of food annually, a statistic that’s projected to rise to over 2 billion tons by 2030. In a bid to fight the global food waste crisis, Eindhoven University of Technology graduate Elzelinde van Doleweerd  teamed up with the China-based technology firm 3D Food Company to turn commonly wasted food products in China into beautiful and tasty 3D snacks. Van Doleweerd recently unveiled her latest 3D-printed recipes in her Upprinting Food exhibition at 2018 Beijing Design Week (BJDW), which ran from Sept. 26 to Oct. 5, 2018.

Elzelinde van Doleweerd began studying ways to sustainably upcycle food waste in the Netherlands while studying for her Industrial Design degree at Eindhoven University of Technology. In teaming up with the 3D Food Company founders Leandro Rolon and David Doepel, van Doleweerd developed two new sustainable food  concepts that use leftover unspoiled food that was discarded due to excess volume, appearance or undesired texture.

Because rice   is a staple in China, van Doleweerd decided to base her printable food paste at BJDW off of leftover boiled rice rather than bread, which she would have used in the Netherlands. The paste was mixed with wasted fruits and vegetables, such as purple sweet potatoes, to take on vibrant colors. The colored paste is fed into a 3D printer to create 3D ramekin-like containers or flat geometric shapes reminiscent of the ancient Chinese folk art of paper cutting. The 3D-printed paste is baked and completely dehydrated to protect against bacterial activity and to meet food safety standards.

Made from over 75 percent food waste,  the crunchy baked treats have a cracker-like consistency and can be flavored with different herbs and spices to take on a sweet, savory or spicy flavor profile. In addition to developing new flavors, van Doleweerd is also in the process of developing a vegan version of her 3D-printed food waste snacks devoid of butter and egg.