Patxi Larumbe was inspired by Star Trek to create a T-bone steak from discarded butchers’ offcuts using a 3D printer. He believes that the process which is described as “food to data and data to food” will “solve many of the world’s food problems”.
The Times reporter says that the taste and appearance is indistinguishable from the real thing. Patxi Larumbe and his team have already brought to the market two vegan products: bacon and foie gras. Both are made from 100% vegetable products although “you would not know that unless you are told” according to the Times reporter.
The 3D printing of T-bone steak is quite extraordinary. To create a steak, the process starts by taking offcuts discarding by butchers during the slaughtering process.
His offcuts are “reverse engineered” into premium cuts. They are put into a computed tomography (CT) scanner. This reveals details such as fat, meat and bone and vascular pathways.
This information having been extracted is then fed into a computer. The offuts are fed into the 3D printer together with undisclosed additives which appear to include omega-3 fatty acids.
The result is a T-bone steak which is “barely distinguishable from the real thing”, as verified by David Sharrock who I believe is the reporter I refer to.
Patxi Larumbe said:
We are a bunch of geeks and freaks who would never have been employed by a traditional food producer. Yet I firmly believe that we are going to solve many of the world’s food problems.
The bacon referred to “sizzles and wrinkles” and has a salty taste just like the real thing (I hope not too much salt is added! Sometimes manufacturers of vegan products ruin them by desperately trying to make them tastier using salt and sugar). Both the bacon and the foie gras are on supermarket shelves in Spain.
The 3D-printed T-bone steak will not be in retail markets for another 12 months. There will probably be global interest as indicated by an investment by the US food giant Cargill.
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