Dairy firm Fonterra and vitamin maker BASF are funding research to create high-tech vending machines that can customize foods to an individual’s dietary requirements. The NZ$13 million project, to be carried out at a new New Zealand university-based functional foods center, is aiming to invent the convenience food category of the future, based on a system called POSIFoods or ‘point-of-sale individualized foods’. Instead of merely choosing from a range of different snacks, the POSIFood system would allow consumers to alter the nutritional make-up of foods and drinks offered to suit their personal health needs.

—Nutraingredients.com, 6/21/04