What should I eat today. How should I eat to go on a diet. What is the right healthy food for me. Ev..

What should I eat today. How should I eat to go on a diet. What is the right healthy food for me. Everyone thinks about eating for the rest of their lives, but they may not have to worry about this in the near future. Lee Ki-won, a professor of food technology at Seoul National University who recently met with Mail Business, said, “Artificial intelligence (AI), robots, and biotechnology will come together to create personalized diets, foods, and materials suitable for health conditions.”

Food tech is all the industries you need to eat. It covers everything about what humans eat: cooking, delivering, washing dishes, etc. In the past, there was food engineering to develop new foods, but recently, food technology, which has expanded its concept, has been in the spotlight. Seoul National University also launched the Department of Food Tech with Professor Lee at the forefront in 2021.

Professor Lee is also nicknamed “Dr. Kong.” After studying soybeans for more than a decade, he founded a company called Bobsnoo in 2012 and produced weak soybean milk using domestic weak soybeans and soy milk. The soy milk, also called “Seoul National University Soy Milk,” was very popular, selling more than 5 million packs a year alone. This also began with Food Tech’s concerns about “how humans can eat sustainably.” Professor Lee explained, “The world’s population continues to grow and there is a prospect that the era of 10 billion people will come,” adding, “If the population reaches 10 billion, there will be insufficient supply of animal protein.”

Alternatives such as artificial meat culture are emerging, but what Professor Lee paid attention to was plant-based protein. Professor Lee said, “We need to be able to supply the necessary proteins with plant-based alternative proteins so that humans can eat sustainably.” Soy milk is just one example, and research is being conducted in Professor Lee’s laboratory to make various alternative foods with plant-based proteins.

Recently, food tech is changing more rapidly with AI. It is a change that can be felt in our daily lives. When you enter applications such as Baedal Minjok or Coupang Eats, the algorithm analyzes the user’s preferences and recommends customized menus and stores. Samsung Electronics also already recommends personalized recipes on smartphones or refrigerators.

It is only at the level of preference analysis now, but there is plenty of room for further development in the future. Professor Lee explained, “If you analyze individual health data or life data, you can make much more advanced recommendations.” Of course, AI can make a diet for hypertensive and diabetic patients, or recommend light foods if you have eaten a lot of fatty foods recently. Due to the nature of the company’s work, if the lunch time is short, it can also tell you a simple lunch place or menu suitable for it. AI will drastically reduce the concerns that many office workers have every day.

Furthermore, it can help you consume food according to your personal values. If you think the climate crisis is a serious problem, you are telling us how to cook less carbon. Professor Lee said, “In this day and age, not everyone likes and eats the same thing, but their perspectives and preferences are different,” adding, “The technology to recommend what people want is becoming more important.”

The size of the food technology market is enormous as it cannot be separated from the problem of eating as long as it is alive. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, it is already around 665 trillion won in 2020 alone. Already, foreign companies are engaged in a fierce battle to dominate the market.

There is also a view that Samsung Electronics is the world’s No. 1 food tech company. This is because the competitiveness of food technology to recommend personalized food comes from the data. Professor Lee evaluated, “If you carry a smartphone, order it with a smart TV, cook it in a smart kitchen, and measure your health with a smart ring, the competitiveness of the data is very great.” “Samsung has a well story, so you can make your own food,” he said, adding, “Samsung Electronics is very ahead.”

In terms of distribution, Hanwha, Coupang, and SPC Group, which recently acquired Our Home, are also noteworthy. Professor Lee said, “In order for food tech to grow, it must be able to produce a uniform taste anywhere, and Paris Baguette, which sells bread around the world, is also a huge food tech company.”

Professor Lee said, “As can be seen from the trend of eating broadcasts, Koreans are very interested in eating,” adding, “There is enough foundation for food technology to grow, such as posting videos of eating on social networking services (SNS) and tens of thousands of people flocking to restaurants on ‘Black and White Cook.'”

[Reporter Choi Wonseok]