3D printers could revolutionize food processing in the next 10 to 20 years, said Hod Lipson, Ph.D., a professor of engineering at Columbia University, speaking at IFT15: Where Science Feeds Innovation.

“The technology is getting faster, cheaper, and better by the minute. Food printing could be the killer app for 3D printing.”

Lipson, who is co-author of Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing, said 3D printing is a good fit for the food industry because it allows manufacturers to bring complexity and variety to consumers at a low cost.

For example, Lipson said, users could choose from a large online database of recipes, put a cartridge with the ingredients into their 3D printer at home, and it would create the dish just for that person. The user could customize it to include extra nutrients or replace one ingredient with another.

Mary Scerra, food technologist at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center (NSRDEC) said that by 2025 or 2030, the military envisions using 3D printing to customize meals for soldiers that “taste good [seriously?], are nutrient-dense, and could be tailored to a soldier’s particular needs.”