Food synthesizer
The food synthesizer, food replicator or food processor was a common device used aboard 23rd century starships and starbases for synthesizing foods and beverages. Replacing the older protein resequencer, these food receptacles served as a supplement to the ship's chef and were predecessors to 24th century replicators. Unlike replicators, with which food orders were made by voice command, food orders given to food synthesizers were usually made by program tapes or cards inserted into a slot.

Technical specifications 
The two prevailing glucose matrices for food synthesis in the 2250s were the Katzman glucose matrix and Gupta glucose matrix. The  used the "Una glucose matrix," though, named for its creator, Number One, which combined the best qualities of each with a more palatable result. ()

According to a commercial for Tribbles cereal, food synthesizers were equipped with replicator safety protocols, which made it impossible for anyone to synthesize any type of hazardous foods. Still, overriding the program was possible. ( credit cookie)

History 

In the mid-22nd century, T'Les had a food processor in her house on . When T'Les' daughter T'Pol and  were visiting the residence in 2154, the food synthesizer was broken, so T'Les asked Tucker if he could fix it, but he didn't have an opportunity to reply, due to the arrival of Koss. Later however, he did the repairs and fixed it. ()

Food synthesizers were located in numerous locations throughout  starships, including the transporter room. ()

A series of food synthesizers were located in the mess hall aboard the  starship . When Commander Saru offered Michael Burnham some blueberries aboard the Discovery in 2256 and she responded that they tasted different from ones she had eaten in prison, Saru reckoned that was less likely to be "a food synthesizer issue" than a result of the environment she was eating them in, which Burnham casually agreed with. ()

In 2268, when the Enterprise was infested with tribbles, it was discovered that they had entered into the food processors aboard the ship through one of the ship's air vents. (; )

One of the reasons Rojan cited for neutralizing non-essential Enterprise personnel during the trip to the Andromeda Galaxy was to conserve the food synthesizer's resources. ()

Nurse Chapel offered the surviving children of the Starnes Exploration Party a selection of cards with differing flavors of ice cream to choose from. All they had to do was pick a card and the computer would mix their favorite combination. ()

Upon taking on a contingent of Klingon officers, led by Kang, aboard the Enterprise, Captain James T. Kirk ordered  to have the food synthesizers programmed to accommodate their guests. ()

By 2270, the food synthesizers aboard the Enterprise were converted over to a voice-command ordering system. ()

Romulan  battle cruisers were also equipped with food synthesizers. ()

The term food synthesizer was still used occasionally while explaining the more advanced replicator to others. ()

See also 
 Protein resequencer
 Replicator

External link 
 

de:Nahrungsverteiler
fr:Synthétiseur alimentaire
Life support technology
Victual technology