Latest news with #OsakaPrefecture
NZ Herald
3 days ago
- Science
- NZ Herald
Osaka Expo 2025 showcases future foods with tech innovations
Inside the 'Evolving Frozen Foods' showcase at the Earth Mart pavilion, conceptualised by broadcasting writer Kundo Koyama, visitors will find a colourful assortment of green, yellow, and red 'regenerated rice'. Ingredients such as rice, vegetables, meat and eggs are frozen and then crushed into a powder. The powder is reshaped into rice grains for easy consumption. There are a variety of flavours made through the combination of ingredients. One of the flavours is called 'salad rice,' while another is named 'takana fried rice flavoured rice'. Another flavour is 'family rice,' inspired by oyakodon, which is a bowl of rice topped with chicken and eggs. Professor Hidemitsu Furukawa of Yamagata University developed regenerated rice in co-operation with Nichirei Foods Inc., a major frozen food company based in Tokyo. Although conventional methods for pulverising ingredients rely on heat or desiccation, the drawback has been the accompanying loss of moisture and aroma. However, the team successfully created powdered ingredients while preserving their original moisture and aroma by instantaneously freezing them using liquid nitrogen. They said that adjusting the blending ratio enables precise control over taste, aroma and nutritional value. 'This approach allows for the use of agricultural produce discarded after a harvest that doesn't reach the market, leading to a reduction in food loss and waste. It also supports farmers,' Furukawa said. Tomoko Kadoya, 64, from Kanazawa, looked at the regenerated rice and said, 'I'm surprised and thrilled that such food will be available in the near future. I am curious to try it and find out what it tastes like.' 3D printed meat The Osaka Healthcare Pavilion, presented by Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City, is enticing the public with the prospect of making meat at home by 2050. Visitors can view 3D printed cultured meat. In 2023, the University of Osaka and companies such as Kyoto-based Shimadzu Corp. created a joint venture called the Consortium for Future Innovation by Cultured Meat. The consortium aims to commercialise technology that cultivates muscle and fat cells harvested from wagyu beef and processes them to create meat with a 3D printer. Pavilion visitors can look at two pieces of cultured meat, each 9cm long and 15cm wide, at the booth. They were produced over about six months. Cultured meat pieces are displayed at the Expo. Photo / The Japan News The ratio of lean to fatty parts can be adjusted to create marbled meat, with one of the pieces having a checkerboard pattern made with the lean and fatty sections. According to Michiya Matsusaki, a professor at the University of Osaka and the consortium's representative, they are close to reproducing the flavour and texture of marbled meat. During the Expo's period, they plan to grill the cultured meat at an event, allowing visitors to smell its aroma. 'I can't even imagine what it tastes like,' said a primary school student from Toyonaka, Osaka Prefecture. 'I wonder if we'll be eating it regularly when I grow up,' the student added curiously. Rice flour soft serve cones Visitors are flocking to eat innovative dairy-free soft serve ice cream and cones which are made without egg or wheat. Nissei Co. developed the dessert. The firm, based in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, is a manufacturer and distributor of soft serve-related products. Beans make up the cream of the soft serve and the cones are made from rice flour. Five flavours, including vanilla, matcha, and strawberry, are available for ¥700 ($8) each at the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion. Commercialisation, however, presents challenges such as costs, according to the company. 'Eating soft serve is often a joyful experience. We want to create a future where everyone can enjoy it,' said a project leader from the company, outlining the project's goal.
Japan Times
26-03-2025
- Health
- Japan Times
Errors found in Osaka Expo pavilion's privacy policy
Errors have been found in a privacy policy related to the Osaka Healthcare Pavilion at the 2025 World Exposition in the city of Osaka, sources said Wednesday. Discussions are underway on whether to correct the errors, the sources said. The expo is set to open on April 13. The pavilion, to be run by Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka, will collect visitors' health data including on muscle, bones, skin, hair, teeth, brain cognition and others to generate an avatar, in addition to personal information including email addresses and dates of birth. The pavilion operator says that the data will be provided to sponsor companies after the deletion of information that can be used for personal identification. Visitors will be required to give consent that covers the privacy policies of more than 10 sponsor companies. However, the privacy policy of SBI Holdings, one of the sponsors, states that the data before the deletion will be provided to the company. The pavilion operator said that SBI's policy lists data that is not supposed to be provided to it and contains factual errors. Meanwhile, an SBI official said that the company released its policy after having the pavilion operator check its contents. The two are considering whether to correct the errors. Chuo University professor Hiroshi Miyashita, who has expertise in information laws, said that visitors' consent should be based on the premise that the same data is used in every process of data provision. "If different data is used, the visitors' consent should be considered invalid and provision of the data to a third party could be considered illegal," he said. The expo's own privacy policy had already sparked controversy for requiring visitors buying tickets to agree to the possibility of their biometric information being provided to a third party.
