It looked like a roasted golden chicken drumstick. A plate set before a dozen elderly people smelled like chicken and tasted pretty much like chicken when they started eating it with their forks and knives.
The only difference was that it wasn’t chicken. Residents of this nursing home in Germany were eating a puri, printed in the shape of a drumstick. Each ‘chicken leg’ was 3D-printed out of vegetable paste and made tastier than a normal puri.
It was also modified to meet the nutritional needs of each elderly person individually.
The group that first ate the ‘non-chicken’ meal five years ago were part of an innovative food project in Europe called ‘Performance’.
It sought to see if 3D-printed food could be given to elderly people who have difficulty swallowing food, a condition also known as dysphagia.
For those who have chewing or swallowing problems, eating chicken drumsticks is usually a difficult task. However, the foods made for the elderly today are often bland and boring, which often results in them not getting the nutrients they need.
But many research teams are trying to find solutions to make food for the elderly more nutritious, varied and interesting, and in a form that is easy to eat.
Biozone, a company spearheading the 3D printing project, first made a filling of fresh broccoli, cabbage and potatoes to make its ‘chicken’ dish, and then added a variety of vitamins, calcium, carbohydrates and vitamins to suit the needs of each eater. Added protein.
The mixture was then fed into a 3D food printer where a gelling agent was added so that the mixture would harden when molded into a shape. The printed food was then frozen to be reheated for later serving.
Mathias Cook, chief executive of BioZone, says the project has been very successful in that it has improved the appetite or appetite of those consuming the food. During the experiment, the average weight of the participants increased by 1.7 kilograms and more than half of the participants also appreciated the texture of the 3D food.
These efforts are probably much more than you think. Most of us can now expect to live to a very old age.
According to statistics released by the United Nations in 2019, by 2050, one in six people will be 65 years or older, while one in four people in Europe and North America will be 65 years or older. Will be.
The number of people aged 80 and over is expected to triple by 2050, from 143 million in 2019 to 426 million in 2050, and over 100 in 2050. The number can be up to three point seven million.
Because this ‘silver tsunami’ can affect any country, there is a need to be creative in food so that people can get the healthy food they need.
Elderly people are more likely to face problems that prevent them from eating adequate food.
According to a 2018 study in Hong Kong, dental and swallowing problems can make eating difficult, while people with neurodegenerative disease, or a disease in which the patient’s health gradually deteriorates, may have difficulty eating. They also try to maintain a proper balance of food.
According to research, one in three Chinese people aged 60 and over have difficulty chewing food. A 2009 study in Belgium found that 70 percent of people between the ages of 75 and 85 had difficulty swallowing. The olfactory receptors in the nose decrease with age, affecting the ability to taste and smell.
These problems have a significant impact on nutritional status. When these are combined with lack of exercise and the effects of medications, the very elderly can suffer from problems such as malnutrition and obesity. By the time people reach age 70 or older, their ability or desire to eat has decreased by up to 25 percent, with up to 60 percent of malnourished people in nursing homes.
“Older people who exercise regularly are more likely to have poor diet, depression and poor health,” says Marian Lutz, professor of human nutrition at the University of Valparaiso in Chile.
Obesity is on the rise among the elderly. In 2015, about 20 percent of people over the age of 50 in Europe were obese, while in the United States, about 60 percent of people over 60 were classified as obese.
A big part of the problem is that as we age, we continue to change our diet, whether by choice or forced.
But according to the World Health Organization, while dietary changes may slightly reduce the risk of disease later in life, the effect is greater in older adults. For example, eating less saturated fat and salt lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels and reduces the risk of heart disease.
According to Litz, an ideal diet for seniors should be high in protein, vitamins, especially B-complex and D, which can increase bone and muscle strength. It also needs minerals, long-chain omega-3 fatty acids, and fiber.
A recent study by Litz found that even an adequate supply of calcium can strengthen bones and increase muscle mass, even though they also need plenty of energy from protein in their diet.
“A diet that includes plant-based foods, such as vegetables, legumes, cereals, nuts, seeds and fruits, is a good source of phytochemicals,” says Litz. These phytochemicals are compounds that are involved in the plant’s defense system. Such a diet has so many benefits that there is no need for commercial supplements.
Fish and shellfish products are great sources of good protein, Litz says.
But one in five people aged 64 and over are deficient in vitamin D, folic acid, calcium, selenium and iodine, according to a study of elderly people in Europe.
So how do you feed the elderly a more nutritious diet that is also suitable for them?
Tanja Sobko, a food scientist at the University of Hong Kong, says feeding them the same diet as young adults is not a good strategy.
“The elderly eat very slowly and very little, so the nutritional value of the food should be much higher than that.”
‘Poréed food’ is a common solution, but its texture and texture often spoils the fun. Most experts say that how the food is served is also important. Foods that are more sticky and stringy require more effort for the elderly to eat.
Biozone’s Cook agrees that ground food is unsightly and may also play a role in the elderly’s lack of interest in food. In a German nursing home project, his team used the color red to make 3D-printed food look more appealing.
Litz says the color of food can make it more appealing, and warm colors work well.
According to him, ‘the image of the food should be captivating and a good combination of colors is fundamental in this.’
Bizone is not the only company that has worked on the concept of 3D printed food for the elderly. Research institute ‘Rise’ based in Gothenburg, Sweden has also conducted experiments on 3D printed food in care homes.
“In Sweden, we’re making puri in a form that can be cut, picked up by hand, soft and easy to swallow,” says its project manager, Violeta Hoglund. The aim is to make food more attractive and something you can eat with a knife and fork.
The team used food purees of broccoli, chicken and bread to give elderly people high protein intake and then baked the food in an oven.
“We want food for dysphagia to feel like normal food so they know what they’re eating,” Hoglund says. It’s too time-consuming to achieve this by hand in a commercial kitchen, so we 3D printed it.’
In Asia, a university in Singapore has also tried to make the country’s famous dishes this way for the elderly. The project, a collaboration between Singapore Polytechnic’s Food Innovation and Resource Center and SIT Massey University, used 3D printing to create a version of chicken rice for the elderly that added calcium, chicken and broccoli purée. .
The result was a ginger-shaped yellow drumstick, surrounded by white and green fillings that resembled rice and broccoli. The team also 3D printed durian, a popular fruit in Asia, with less added sugar. Apart from this, a chili crab dish was also made which was quite original in taste and texture.
“In the early stages of our research, we gathered consumer information to identify the needs of ‘silver-agers’, particularly the foods they like,” says Evelyn Ong, production innovation manager at Singapore Polytechnic’s Food Innovation and Resource Centre. but due to health problems she is not able to meet them.’
But despite excitement about projects in Germany, Singapore and Sweden, 3D printing is still in its early stages of development and is far from becoming a reliable commercial product.
BioZone’s cooks say they faced difficulties using the cabbage filling because the printers work differently at changing room temperatures, which can cause differences in the quality of the food. So it took them a long time to prepare the food. This can be a problem if you are feeding residents in a large nursing home.
So the project was spearheaded by another company that works on 3D printing of chocolate.
“It’s just about the only place where 3D printing is succeeding,” says Geoffrey Lipton, a mechanical engineer at the University of Washington. The biggest hurdle this technology faces is the ability to produce food on a large scale and at high speed. There is also the issue of which food items can be printed.
“Not every food should and cannot go through the 3D fabrication process,” he says. For this we need to interface with robotic cooking technology on a large scale.
Fortunately, there are other ways to improve diet for older adults.
According to a study, this can be done by adding monosodium glutamate to the diet of elderly people. It is an ingredient used in canned and processed food to improve flavor. This increases their salivary flow and appetite.
It has also been shown that improving the texture of food can help elderly people with eating disorders. Making food soft, moist and in small portions can also help in this regard. For example, the Irish Agricultural Development Agency is experimenting with adding rice protein and lentil flour to beef patties to improve texture.
But sometimes just getting to food is a challenge for the elderly. For example, for a patient with arthritis (joint pain), many elderly people are unable to eat a variety of foods because of the difficulty of opening a tin can opener or twisting a jar lid. Although efforts have also been seen where food packaging is being tailored to the convenience of the elderly.
These include paper packaging that can be easily torn but the food remains fresh. In addition, the jars are fitted with an easy-to-rotate lid, which can be opened more easily than conventional lids. Facilitates presentation.
Other methods may also work. Many nursing homes in Sweden bake cinnamon buns before meals, the smell of which creates a positive feeling about food in the elderly before meals.
“Making cinnamon rolls is an old tradition in Swedish homes,” says Sobko. We do this for our children and when we sell our homes. It brings old memories to the elderly. It is difficult for them to feel hungry but a good smell can make them feel hungry. And eating them with milk is part of their childhood memories.