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Italy Starts 3D Printing Its Food, Literally

Italy Starts 3D Printing Its Food,  Literally visual media slide

Italy has spent centuries defending how food should be made and now it’s quietly experimenting with how food might be printed. In Abruzzo, researchers at ENEA’s EltHub are using 3D printing and lab-grown plant cells to create edible “inks” shaped into sliced foods and steak-like cuts. This isn’t novelty gastronomy, it’s applied food engineering, designed around texture, nutrition, and accessibility.


What makes this story land is the technology has already left the lab. In Rome’s Parioli district, Impact Food, a fully plant-based steakhouse, is serving sliced 3D-printed products made from plant-cell formulations. The dishes aren’t framed as futuristic stunts, but as functional, chef-led menu items that slot neatly into a modern Italian dining experience.


Italy isn’t abandoning culinary heritage, it’s stress-testing it. In a country where food identity is sacred, 3D printing isn’t rebellion. It’s adaptation.



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