Have you ever wondered what it would be like to sit down with some cheeky KFC and bite into some delicious chicken created by a 3D printer?
Yep, you could be sitting down to bite into some delicious 3D-printed KFC chicken nuggets in the not-too-distant future, with the fast-food chain revealing they are working with a Russian company called 3D Bioprinting Solutions.
As The Verge reports, KFC is hoping to develop new bioprinting tech to “print” chicken meat. They’ll provide the Russian company with ingredients and their secret herbs and spices with a goal to “to achieve the signature KFC taste” in printed meat.
“3D bioprinting technologies, initially widely recognized in medicine, are nowadays gaining popularity in producing foods such as meat,” said co-founder of 3D Bioprinting Solutions, Yusef Khesuani.
But before any vegetarians get too excited, the 3D-printed chicken wouldn’t technically be vego as it will still contain animal material.
However, the bioprinted nuggies will be more environmentally friendly, with KFC citing a study by the American Environmental Science and Technology Journal that shows the benefits of growing meat from cells.
“In the future, the rapid development of such technologies will allow us to make 3D-printed meat products more accessible and we are hoping that the technology created as a result of our cooperation with KFC will help accelerate the launch of cell-based meat products on the market,” said Khesuani.
So how long until we can expect to pop down to the local and grab some machine-created chicken? It could still be a while yet.
In the announcement, KFC said bioprinted nuggets will be going through final testing in Spring of 2020 (Australian time), but no word when the product or even samples will be available for customers.
While we might be waiting a while for 3D-printed nuggets, KFC has begun rolling out contactless stores filled with robots to help out with social distancing in some countries.
Locally, the chain has dropped a couple of epic recipes to try in lockdown including Hot & Spicy Mac ‘n’ Cheese and a Zinger Parmy recipe.
