3D printing to feed US soldiers

The US Army is looking at novel ways to feed its troops - including 3D printing food.

Lauren Oleksyk, a food technologist with the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC), is investigating 3D applications for food processing and product development.

“Printing of food is definitely a burgeoning science,” Oleksyk said.

“It’s currently being done with limited application. People are 3D printing food. In the confectionery industry, they are printing candies and chocolates. Some companies are actually considering 3D printing meat or meat alternatives based on plant products that contain the protein found in meat.”

NRSDEC food technologist Mary Scerra says the technology could actually reduce costs because it could be used to print on demand. “For example, you would like a sandwich, whereas I would like ravioli. You would print what you want and eliminate wasted food,” she said.

Oleksyk says her team is the first to investigate how 3D printing could be used to feed soldiers. The technology could be used on the battlefield for meals on demand or for food manufacturing, where food could be 3D printed and further processed to become shelf stable for use in rations.

“We have a three-year shelf-life requirement for the MRE [meal ready-to-eat],” Oleksyk said. “We’re interested in maybe printing food that is tailored to a soldier’s nutritional needs and then applying another novel process to render it shelf stable, if needed.”

The team is looking at ultrasonic agglomeration, which produces compact, small snack-type items. Combining 3D printing with this process could yield a nutrient-dense, shelf-stable product.

“We are thinking as troops move forward, we could provide a process or a compact printer that would allow soldiers to print food on demand using ingredients that are provided to them, or even that they could forage for,” said Oleksyk. “This is looking far into the future.”