Tales of Future Past v2

Go to content

Main menu

Synthetic Food

Future Food

If you thought food pills were bad, at least you never had to deal with the horror of purely synthetic food. As part of a space experiment in 1965, twenty four men volunteered to be fed nothing but a food made from pure chemicals for nineteen weeks.  I should say that that twenty four men started, but only fifteen finished. No, the other nine didn't starve to death.  The experiment proved quite successful from a medical point of view and everyone who finished was perfectly healthy. It had more to do with the fact that the "food" wasn't even as solid a meal as a pill.

It was syrup.  Looked like weak corn syrup. Tasted like weak corn syrup.

No wonder they had to be locked up for the duration of the experiment. One unguarded window and it was "Hello, cheeseburger!"

For any aspiring cooks with access to an organic chemistry lab, here is the recipe. Frankly, I'm holding out for an omelette.

Composition of an artificial diet entirely composed of purified chemical compounds

l-Lysine·HCL
l-Leucine
l-Isoleucine
l-Valine
l-Phenylalanine
l-Arginine·HCL
l-Histidine·HCL·H20
l-Methionine
l-Alanine

3.58 g
3.83 g
2.42 g
2.67 g
1.75 g
2.58 g
1.58 g
1.75 g
2.58 g

Sodium L-aspartate
l-Threonine
l-Proline
Glycin
l-Serine
l-Tyrosine ethyl ester·HCL
l-Tryptophan
l-Glutamine
l-Cysteine ethyl ester·HCL

6.40 g
2.42 g
10.33 g
1.67 g
5.33 g
6.83 g
0.75 g
9.07 g
0.92 g

Water-soluble vitamins

Thiamine.HCL
Riboflavin
Pyridoxine.HCL
Niacinamide
Inositol
d-Calcium pantothenate

1.00 mg
1.50 mg
1.67 mg
10.00 mg
0.83 mgg
8.33 mg

d-Bioting
Folic acid
Ascorbic acid
Cyanocobalamin
p-Aminobenzoic acid
Choline bitartrate

0.83 mg
1.67 mg
62.50 mg
1.67 mg
416.56 mg
231.25 mg

Salts

Potassium iodide
Manganous acetate
Zinc benzoate
Cupric acetate
Sodium glycerophosphate
Ammonium molybdate

0.25 mg
18.30 mg
2.82 mg
2.50 mg
1.67 mg
5.23 g

Potassium hydroxideg
Magnesium oxide
Sodium chloride
Ferrous gluconate
Calcium Chloride·2H2O
Sodium benzoate

0.83 g
0.38 g
4.77 g
0.83 g
2.44 g
1.00 g

Carbohydrates

Glucose 555.0 g Glucono-δ-lactone 17.2 g

Glucose 555.0 g Glucono-δ-lactone 17.2 g

Glucose 555.0 g Glucono-δ-lactone 17.2 g

Glucose 555.0 g Glucono-δ-lactone 17.2 g

Fats and fat-soluble vitamins

Ethyl linoeate
Vitamin A
Vitamin D

2.0 g
3.64 mg
0.057 mg

α-Tocopherol acetate
Menadione

57.29 mg
4.58 mg

Back to content | Back to main menu