Conditioning system for nutritional substances

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a conditioning system for nutritional substances. The conditioning system obtains information regarding the nutritional substance to be conditioned, the desired conditioning, and the desired properties, including nutritional content, of the conditioned nutritional substance, and dynamically controls the conditioning in response to this information optimize the organoleptic properties of the conditioned nutritional substance, while minimizing any detrimental changes to the nutritional content.

1 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for conditioning the nutritional substance; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         2 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for conditioning the nutritional substance;   sensor for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information and conditioning information after conditioning.   
     
     
         3 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned; and   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information.   
     
     
         4 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         5 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         6 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information;   sensor for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the conditioning information and source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         7 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   detector for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         8 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   detector for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         9 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   detector for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications;   sensor for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information and conditioning information after conditioning.   
     
     
         10 . A conditioning system of  claim 9  wherein said retriever comprises:
 identifier associated with a particular nutritional substance; 
 information storage containing said source information referenced to said identifier; and 
 locator for retrieving said source information for said particular nutritional substance from said information storage. 
 
     
     
         11 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein information storage comprises an electronic storage device or system. 
     
     
         12 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein information storage comprises a computer. 
     
     
         13 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein information storage comprises a computer database. 
     
     
         14 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a human readable label. 
     
     
         15 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label. 
     
     
         16 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a barcode label. 
     
     
         17 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a OR code label. 
     
     
         18 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a radio frequency label. 
     
     
         19 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising an electronically readable label. 
     
     
         20 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such reader comprises an optical reader. 
     
     
         21 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such reader comprises a radio frequency reader. 
     
     
         22 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such reader comprises an electronic reader. 
     
     
         23 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such information locator comprises a computer. 
     
     
         24 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 10  wherein such information locator comprises a database. 
     
     
         25 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said conditioner comprises a food processing system. 
     
     
         26 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said conditioner comprises an oven. 
     
     
         27 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said transformer comprises a microwave oven. 
     
     
         28 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said transformer comprises a fryer. 
     
     
         29 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said transformer comprises a steamer. 
     
     
         30 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein said transformer comprises a computer controlled food processing system. 
     
     
         31 . A conditioning system of  claim 9 , wherein said sensor comprises a chemical sensor. 
     
     
         32 . A conditioning system of  claim 9 , wherein said sensor comprises a biological sensor. 
     
     
         33 . A conditioning system of  claim 9 , wherein said sensor comprises a electronic sensor. 
     
     
         34 . A conditioning system of  claim 9 , wherein said sensor comprises a mechanical sensor. 
     
     
         35 . A conditioning system of  claim 9 , wherein said sensor comprises a combination of chemical, biological, electrical, and/or mechanical sensors. 
     
     
         36 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 9  wherein the means for obtaining conditioning specifications comprises:
 a consumer interface for receiving consumer specifications; and 
 means for transmitting consumer specifications to conditioning means. 
 
     
     
         37 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned; and   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information.   
     
     
         38 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         39 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         40 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information;   sensor for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the conditioning information and source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         41 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   means for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         42 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   means for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information after conditioning.   
     
     
         43 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining source information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   means for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the source information and the conditioning specifications;   means for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the source information and conditioning information after conditioning.   
     
     
         44 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 7  wherein the means for obtaining conditioning specifications comprises:
 a consumer interface for receiving consumer specifications; and 
 means for transmitting consumer specifications to conditioning means. 
 
     
     
         45 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 7  wherein the means for obtaining conditioning specifications comprises:
 a consumer interface for receiving consumer specifications; 
 a recipe information storage information system; 
 a selection means for obtaining recipe information in response to consumer information; and 
 transmitter for transmitting recipe information to conditioning means. 
 
     
     
         46 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 7  wherein the means for obtaining conditioning specifications comprises:
 a consumer interface for receiving consumer specifications; 
 a recipe information storage information system; 
 a selection means for obtaining recipe information in response to consumer information; and 
 transmitter for transmitting consumer specifications and recipe information to conditioning means. 
 
     
     
         47 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances comprising:
 retriever for obtaining nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic information regarding a nutritional substance to be conditioned;   detector for obtaining conditioning specifications;   conditioner for adaptively conditioning the nutritional substance according to the nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic information and the conditioning specifications;   sensor for obtaining conditioning information regarding the conditioning; and   transmitter for transmitting the nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic information and conditioning information after conditioning.   
     
     
         48 . A conditioning system of  claim 47  wherein said retriever comprises:
 identifier associated with a particular nutritional substance; 
 information storage containing said nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic information referenced to said identifier; and 
 locator for retrieving said nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic information for said particular nutritional substance from said information storage. 
 
     
     
         49 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein information storage comprises an electronic storage device or system. 
     
     
         50 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein information storage comprises a computer. 
     
     
         51 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein information storage comprises a computer database. 
     
     
         52 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a human readable label. 
     
     
         53 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label. 
     
     
         54 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a barcode label. 
     
     
         55 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a OR code label. 
     
     
         56 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising a radio frequency label. 
     
     
         57 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such an identifier is a computer readable label comprising an electronically readable label. 
     
     
         58 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such reader comprises an optical reader. 
     
     
         59 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such reader comprises a radio frequency reader. 
     
     
         60 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such reader comprises an electronic reader. 
     
     
         61 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such information locator comprises a computer. 
     
     
         62 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 48  wherein such information locator comprises a database. 
     
     
         63 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said conditioner comprises a food processing system. 
     
     
         64 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said conditioner comprises an oven. 
     
     
         65 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said transformer comprises a microwave oven. 
     
     
         66 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said transformer comprises a fryer. 
     
     
         67 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said transformer comprises a steamer. 
     
     
         68 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein said transformer comprises a computer controlled food processing system. 
     
     
         69 . A conditioning system of  claim 47 , wherein said sensor comprises a chemical sensor. 
     
     
         70 . A conditioning system of  claim 47 , wherein said sensor comprises a biological sensor. 
     
     
         71 . A conditioning system of  claim 47 , wherein said sensor comprises a electronic sensor. 
     
     
         72 . A conditioning system of  claim 47 , wherein said sensor comprises a mechanical sensor. 
     
     
         73 . A conditioning system of  claim 47 , wherein said sensor comprises a combination of chemical, biological, electrical, and/or mechanical sensors. 
     
     
         74 . A conditioning system for nutritional substances according to  claim 47  wherein the locator for obtaining conditioning specifications comprises:
 a consumer interface for receiving consumer specifications; and 
 transmitting for transmitting consumer specifications to conditioning means. 
 
     
     
         75 . A method of dynamically conditioning a nutritional substance comprising the steps of:
 obtaining source information regarding the nutritional substance;   obtaining conditioning instructions for the nutritional substance;   modifying the conditioning instructions using the source information.   
     
     
         76 . A method of dynamically conditioning a nutritional substance of  claim 75  wherein the conditioning instructions are modified so as to preserve nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance. 
     
     
         77 . A method of generating nutritional information for a conditioned nutritional substance comprising the steps of:
 obtaining source information regarding the nutritional substance;   obtaining conditioning information for the nutritional substance;   calculating any change in nutritional information using the source information and the conditioning information.   
     
     
         78 . A method of generating nutritional information of  claim 77  wherein calculating the change includes calculating any change nutritional, organoleptic and/or aesthetic value of the nutritional substance. 
     
     
         79 . A method of estimating a change in a selected nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance following conditioning comprising the steps of:
 retrieving at least two of a source information, dynamically generated information, and   currently observed information regarding a selected nutritional value of a nutritional substance to be conditioned; and   obtaining a conditioning specification for conditioning the nutritional substance; and   calculating a value associated with the change in the selected nutritional value using at least two of said source information, said dynamically generated information, said currently observed information, and said conditioning specification.   
     
     
         80 . A method of estimating a change in a selected nutritional, organoleptic, or aesthetic value of a nutritional substance following conditioning according to  claim 79  further comprising the steps of:
 providing information regarding the calculated value for local or remote review.