Have you ever imagined eating printed food? Surely not! But get ready for it now. KFC plans 3D-printed chicken nuggets. Additive manufacturing, 3D-printing is offering novel solutions for industries like 3D-printed toilets, 3D-printed housing, and 3D-printed personal protective equipment (PPE), which are in desperate demand for fighting against COVID-19.

KFC is the first in the food industry to plan eatables through 3D printing technology. The KFC is going to unveil 3D-printed nuggets later this year in Russia. Chicken lovers in the rest of the world need to wait for some time to treat their taste buds with printed foodstuff. The time perhaps is not far away when people will cook-print the food from the leisure of their kitchen, sending the command over their laptop or smartphone, sitting in the TV lounge, lawn, or from the warmth of bed. 

The Production of 3D-printed Nuggets 

In July, KFC announced its partnership with 3D Bioprinting Solutions, disclosing plans to produce the world’s first laboratory-produced chicken. It is part of its “restaurant of the future” concept. Bioprinting is a method to develop tissues and organs to meet medical needs. It uses 3D technology to handle biological materials.

The research project taken up by the laboratory in Moscow will use a combination of chicken cells and plant material for additive bioprinting. The goal is to produce a nugget closely matching the taste, texture, feel, and look of KFC’s organic nuggets. KFC plans to provide the laboratory with seasoned and breaded ingredients to match the actual taste of its original nuggets. 

 The Benefits of 3D-Printed Nuggets

KFC understands the proposed 3D-printed chicken nuggets will have many benefits like the ones mentioned below. 

Lab-produced meat is claimed to be more environmentally friendly. An article published in The American Environmental Science & Technology Journal describes that cell-based lab-produced meat could need about half the energy as compared to the production of farm-based meat. It will also minimize the use of land and the discharge of greenhouse gases. 

The top Management of KFC in Russia believes that the development will lead to addressing many other problems which are not presently linked directly with 3D bioprinting. The 3D-printed nuggets will have fewer additives, not be wholly meat-free. 

KFC is strongly committed to becoming a “restaurant of the future.” It became the first to induce  Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken into its menus, last year.

Future of 3D-printed Meat

Lab-grown meat is not a new nothing. It is in the market for many years. The companies like  Memphis Meats have worked hard to develop the technology. Still, the product has not gained popularity. The new KFC move can be a big step towards raising the demand for lab-produced meat. It will be an accelerator for the growth of the industry if it happens so. 

Photo by Aleks Dorohovich on Unsplash