A UK-based company has developed a 3D printer that can make chocolate replicas of human faces. Dr Liang Hao, from the University of Exeter has founded the Choc Edge company to develop what is claimed to be the "world's first 3D chocolate printer".

Basically it can make a 3D chocolate model out of anything but it is being advertised for its ability to take a scan of someone’s face and make an edible bust. We think they would have just been better off just making edible busts. Users can refill the printing head with fresh tempered or decorative chocolates conveniently. A full filled printing head can continuously print chocolates or decoration patterns for 15-30 minutes, the company said.

The machine is designed to print chocolate line tracks that range from 0.5 mm to 1.5 mm, this is much finer than any current manual piping technique, it said.