Developing healthier foods, virtually

A ‘virtual mouth’ developed by the CSIRO is providing researchers with new information on how to produce healthier foods - while still ensuring they taste good.

The ‘mouth’ is based on 3D mastication modelling, enabling scientists to see what happens in the mouth during the process of chewing. It could help researchers understand how to reduce salt, sugar and fat in foods while incorporating more fibre and nutrient - and even how to create new food sensations.

Fittingly, CSIRO biomechanical engineer and computer modeller Dr Simon Harrison has developed a virtual caramel-filled Easter egg to track what happens when the virtual mouth ‘eats’ the egg.

“In polite company, we can’t see inside someone’s mouth while they’re eating and, until now, it has not been possible to view how the chewing process alters food,” Dr Harrison said.

“Using a cutting-edge technique called smooth particle hydrodynamics, we’ve developed a virtual mouth built on real data about the physics of chewing. It predicts how a particular food breaks down and how flavour is released in the mouth. It also shows the distribution and interaction of components such as salt, sugar and fat.

“Through this technology, we can view and analyse how food at the microscopic level works in the mouth, and how it influences our taste perception.”

The CSIRO’s ‘virtual mouth’ gets to work on a caramel-filled chocolate. Source: CSIRO.

Data produced from the virtual mouth will be used to develop foods lower in salt, sugar and fat without changing the taste. According to a CSIRO food materials scientist, the benefits for the food industry could be enormous.

“This technology will give food and ingredient manufacturers the ability not only to model the breakdown of a complex food product, but also the individual components,” Dr Lundin said.

“It can also model the costs of making changes to a product and then calculate the cost benefit. This will save time and money, compared to using the traditional ‘cook and look’ approach.

“Our research should also help create new taste sensations that could find their way into new products on our supermarket shelves.”