Fitbit For Chickens Could Increase Egg Production
Scientists at the University of California have found that a Fitbit-like device worn by farm chickens may help combat insect infestations and eventually increase production of fresh eggs. The tiny device tracks bird behavior rather than steps. Entomologist Amy Murillo and her team of researchers developed an algorithm that allows data from the device’s motion sensor to provide reliable indications of a chicken’s distinct actions, such as biting, pecking and preening. Chickens who engage in more feather cleaning are more likely to have infections, and the data can help farmers track down affected chickens before an infestation spreads to the whole flock. “External parasites, such as mites, can have direct impacts on poultry health and productivity as well as economic effects,” said Denise Heard, director of research for the U.S. Poultry & Egg Association. Ultimately, the device may help farmers keep their chickens healthy and boost egg production.
White Castle Becomes First Fast Food Chain To Test Robotic Fry Cook
White Castle aims to put Flippy, its new robotic chef, to work this September. Made by Miso Robotics, Flippy can perform duties such as moving itself around workstations, frying food, and flipping burgers. The robot can also assimilate to its location and move more efficiently as it adapts to its surroundings. Flippy is already in use at some restaurants, concert venues, and sports stadiums such as Dodger Stadium. White Castle has been working with Miso Robotics on automation efforts for months, but the decision to implement the robot now was accelerated by the pandemic, according to White Castle vice president Jamie Richardson. If Flippy becomes a fixture in White Castle restaurants, the robot will not eliminate human jobs, emphasized Richardson. Kitchen automation, he says, will make food delivery and customer service easier for staff, letting them concentrate on customers and getting delivery drivers the food they need. According to Miso Robotics CEO James “Buck” Jordan, Flippy can coordinate food production with precision timing so that food will be finished cooking and ready to go just when drivers come to pick it up.
Burger King Tests Beef Burgers From Low-Methane Cattle
Burger King teamed up with two groups of scientists to test a new diet for cattle that reduces the animals’ methane emissions. Methane is a natural digestive byproduct for cattle, but this greenhouse gas attracts heat from the sun, contributing to the planet’s increasing temperatures. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, farm animals account for about 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In collaboration with Burger King, various scientists have documented success in reducing the methane output of cattle by adding 100 grams of lemongrass leaves to their diet during the last four months of feeding. Initial study results show that the lemongrass addition reduces daily methane emissions by an average of 33% per day during the last three to four months of the animals’ lives. Burger King’s Whopper sandwich made with the low methane beef is now being offered at restaurants in Miami, New York, Austin, Texas, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon. Thus far, no change in the taste of the burgers has been reported.
Wearable Tech Necklace Tracks Food Intake To Help Optimize Diet
NeckSense is a new necklace designed by Northwestern University researchers to help wearers understand, either on their own or by working with health professionals, what factors or behaviors trigger bingeing or overeating. The necklace contains a tiny wearable camera with sensors that record activities such as dietary intake and heart rate. Researchers refined the wearable tech after testing it on 20 study participants with and without obesity and publishing the study results in the journal of the Association for Computing Machinery. “The ability to easily record dietary intake patterns allows dieticians [sic] — or even laypeople making use of our tech — to deliver timely digital interventions that occur as eating is happening to prevent overeating,” said lead study author Nabil Alshurafa, an assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.
Sidewalk Refrigerators Offer Free Food In New York City And Around The World
As the pandemic strains food banks and hunger relief efforts worldwide, volunteers have begun a simple solution: community refrigerators, sometimes nicknamed “friendly fridges.” In New York City, anyone in need is welcome to take food from these sidewalk refrigerators. “Take what you need, leave what you don’t” is a common sign on the fridges, which are cleaned and stocked by volunteers every day. Volunteers also request and coordinate food donations from local restaurants and grocery stores, gathering unsold and unused items that may otherwise have been destined for the trash. Even before the pandemic, 1 in every 4 New Yorkers were food insecure, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that roughly 30% of the country’s food supply went to waste. These trends are echoed around the world, as the data from the United Nations indicate that as many 270 million could become food insecure before the end of 2020, an 82% increase since the pandemic began. To combat the growing hunger problem, public refrigerators have proliferated around the world. Freedge.org, a database and network of free food refrigerators, lists dozens of these so-called “freedges.”
100% Solar Powered McDonald’s Serves As Company’s New Sustainability Lab
McDonald’s recently opened a 100% solar power restaurant at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The new location has 1,066 solar panels on its roof and 1,500 square feet of panels on its outside porch. The restaurant’s windows open and close automatically to bring in cool air. Running an establishment on fully renewable energy is “still sort of at the technological edge for buildings,” said Carol Ross Barney, principal at Ross Barney Architects, who spearheaded the new location’s design. “For a restaurant, the biggest energy use is in cooking,” said Ross Barney, “especially in a high-volume restaurant like this one at Disney World.” The company is testing new cooking equipment to reduce energy use as well. “McDonald’s isn’t going to turn around tomorrow and tell all the franchises that they have to have and put solar panels all over their store,” say Ross Barney. “But I do think that there will be some applications that can be used in all stores, and will be used in all stores, in the future.”
Coming In 2021: World’s First 3D Printed Vegan Steak
Israeli start-up Redefine Meat has joined the plant-based “meat” market with plans to launch a line of 3D printed vegan steaks next year. “You need a 3D printer to mimic the structure of the muscle of the animal,” said CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit. The company is testing its “Alt Steaks” at several fine-dining restaurants this year and aims to roll out industrial-scale 3D printers to meat distributors in 2021. Redefine Meat’s machines will have the capacity to print 20 kilograms (about 44 pounds) of 3D printed plant-based meat per hour.
While Redefine Meat has focused on beef, the Spanish company Novameat has also been developing a line of 3D-printed plant-based meats focused on whole-muscle cuts that resemble pork. Like Redefine Meat, Novameat’s products will tested in European restaurants this year and the company has rollout plans for 2021.
“The market is definitely waiting for a breakthrough in terms of improving the texture,” said Stacy Pyett, who manages the Proteins for Life program at Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands. It remains to be seen whether 3D printing will provide that breakthrough. Either way, sales of alternative “meat” products are predicted to reach $140 billion by 2029, about 10% of the world meat market, according to Barclays.
China’s Country Garden Opens Restaurant Run Entirely By Robots
Health and safety concerns during the coronavirus outbreak have accelerated the use and acceptance of robots in restaurants. In the city of Shunde in China’s Guangdong province, Country Garden real estate and catering group has just opened a 21,000 square foot restaurant complex operated entirely by robots. The restaurant’s menu has 200 items including fast food, hot pot, and various other Chinese dishes that are prepared by 20 robots. The restaurant can handle 600 diners at once.
While robots have been used before in restaurants to greet guests and run food, most establishments still relied on human chefs. In Country Garden’s new restaurant complex, robots perform all tasks from cooking and serving to cleaning with specific robots trained to make dishes such as ice cream and clay pot rice. To assure customers of their safety, the robots have all received new safety certifications from China’s National Robot Testing and Accreditation Center.
Country Garden plans to expand with additional centralized kitchens in and around Hong Kong this year with the expectation of producing 5,000 robots a year. In the coronavirus era and beyond, the company is betting that customers will feel safer dining in a restaurant in which the food has been produced with no human contact.
Food Automation Goes From Niche To Necessity
With guests eager to experience restaurant food and service–but safely–food automation devices such as salad and smoothie robots have become more widely accepted. The Chowbotic company’s robot, Sally, is an autonomous kiosk capable of mixing dozens of beautiful, fresh salad combinations in short order with little human interaction. These salad robots are now in high demand at large foodservice operations such as hospitals and universities. “The hospital market has accelerated,” says Rick Wilmer, Chowbotic chief executive officer. “We were one of those lucky companies that had the solution ideally suited for the circumstances.”
Similarly, a smoothie robot named Chef B can whip up more than three dozen 12-ounce smoothies in an hour without human assistance. Chef B’s parent company, Blendid, is now on the DoorDash app, with made-to-order smoothies ready for delivery. Even fast food hamburgers have become more automated and safer at Creator restaurant in San Francisco. Creator opened in 2018 with a 14-foot burger machine capable of making 130 burgers in an hour. Now it has a new pressurized airlock transfer window for contactless takeout orders.
New Research Links Acne to Sugar, Milk, and Chocolate
According to a new study of 25,000 French adults, consumption of milk, sugary drinks, and fatty foods appears to be directly associated with acne. The research was published Wednesday in the journal JAMA Dermatology. “This is an important study, and it adds to the body of evidence which has found that certain eating patterns may be one factor playing a role in acne for some individuals,” said board-certified dermatologist Dr. Rajani Katta, who was not involved in or with the study. The findings are part of a long-term observational analysis of French dietary habits called the NutriNet-Santé study, which began in May 2009. Study participants recorded what they ate over a 24-hour period on three separate occasions in November of 2018 and then again six months later. “Our current thinking on the role of diet and acne has really undergone a significant shift in the last decade and a half,” said Dr. Katta. One reason for this dietary association, according to the study, may be that a high glycemic-load diet causes a rise in circulating levels of insulin, hormones and other compounds which create oxidative stress and inflammation, leading to the development of acne.
