Patent ID: 7762181

Claim:
A system for dispensing a customized nutritional serving which comprises: an ingredient storage module; an ingredient processing module; a serving dispenser; a customer interface; and a controller operatively linked to the customer interface and programmed to control the storage module, the processing module and the serving dispenser; the controller having stored in its memory an inventory of ingredients in the storage module, their compositions and their properties, and customer profile data; the controller being programmed to operate in the following manner: when a customer selects a customized serving through the customer interface, the controller: a) looks up the information stored in its memory, formulates a serving which best matches the customized serving selected by the customer within predetermined constraints set by its programming and presents a selected serving to the customer for confirmation or modification; b) if the customer modifies the selection, repeats step a) on the modified selection, and presents the resulting selected serving to the customer for confirmation or modification; and c) when the customer has confirmed a serving issues instructions to the ingredient storage and processing modules and the serving dispenser to prepare and dispense the serving.