Drawing the scientific landscape of 3D Food Printing. Maps and interpretation of the global information in the first 13 years of detailed experiments, from 2007 to 2020

3D Food Printing is a hot field of research in which many efforts are concentrating to unleash its potential for renewal. To facilitate this process, we have drawn the global scientific landscape in these first 13 years of experiments by using bibliometric and data visualization approaches. We find a total of 170 documents between 2007 and 2020. China and Australia are the most productive countries followed by Italy. On a total of 582 co-authors, not more than 10 researchers are collaborating out of their research group/institution. This is a weakness that urges sharing information and experiences. Also, the networks of the keywords have shown some hidden opportunities. The interrelationship between digital design, microstructure and personalized food need to be reinforced to create unprecedented sensory perceptions and alleviate the mastication and swallowing problems of vulnerable consumers. Also, there is a shortage of papers on the printing of protein-rich inks. Industrial relevance: The paper critically analyzes the global production of scientific experiments in 3D food printing. The results discovered that the level of collaborative researches is weak while the involvement of the industrial sector, being a crucial process to unleash the great ambitions of personalized food manufacturing, is urgent. What emerged is the need to study parallel deposition methodologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS) or hot-air sintering (HAS) that would open for fast printing and the use of highly stable food powders. Other opportunities to make feasible the application of 3DFP could be the use of protein-rich food inks and to make closer the topics of digital design and personalized consumers requirements.