“I can’t get past the fact that it is printed”: consumer attitudes to 3D printed food

In recent years, 3D printing technologies have been developed to process a range of food products. Thus far, no academic research has attempted to gauge what people make of the different types of 3D printed food products and how receptive they may be to using a 3D food printer and consuming the food it makes. To address these questions, a qualitative study was conducted with Australians, using the method of an online discussion forum in which they were asked to respond to images of 3D printed food products. It found that the key attributes influencing participants’ responses to each food item were: the content of the food; its appearance; the assumed sensory qualities of the food; to what extent it was assessed to be “real” or “food-like”; and considerations of how much processing the food had gone through. The findings suggest that those entrepreneurs or organizations which wish to promote 3D food printing technologies need to consider these attributes in their efforts to encourage people to accept the technologies and their products.