Printing Nutrition Labels on Food (Literally)

If we're supposed to pay attention to our food's nutrient quality—the calories, saturated fat, and carbs—should food labels be more prominent? What if standardized nutrition facts were an intrinsic part of foods themselves?

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Dnewman recently designed this nutrition facts label that could be printed directly onto an eggshell using an Eggbot printer.

This practice of inking information on foods might not be as novel as you imagine. The United States Department of Agriculture regularly stamps inspected cuts of meat with a number, although you don't often see them because they're found on larger wholesale cuts. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service explains:

The dye used to stamp the grade and inspection marks onto a meat carcass is made from a food-grade vegetable dye and is not harmful. (The exact formula is proprietary/owned by the maker of the dye.)

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According to Edible Horticultural Plants, these dyes are based on the juice from elderberry plants, which you'll find in St-Germain and flu-fighting natural remedies.

As a concept, it would be curious to see how visible, edible food labels would affect the way we perceive the exorbitant salt content of processed breads or the questionable caloric content of candy.

For more, join our conversation about redesigning the food label here.

Top photo via Dnewman (h/t EDW Lynch/Laughing Squid); bottom image via FSIS.