They look more like the brightly lit shelves of a chemists shop than the rows of a vegetable garden.

    But according to their creators, these perfect looking vegetables could be the future of food.

    In a perfectly controlled and totally sterile environment - uncontaminated by dirt, insects or fresh air - Japanese scientists are developing a new way of growing vegetables.

    Called plant factories, these anonymous looking warehouses have sprung up across the country and can churn out immaculate looking lettuces and green leaves 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

    Every part of the plant's environment is controlled - from the lighting and temperature, to the humidity and water. Even the levels of carbon dioxide can be minutely altered.

    Rather than the conventional scruffy clothes and dirty fingernails of vegetable growers, the producers wear gloves, surgical masks and sort of dust proof protective suits normally seen in chemical plants.

    The vegetables from plant factories - which include green leaf, romaine lettuce and garland chrysanthemum - are sold at a premium to Japanese shoppers. No pesticides are used - and there is no risk of contamination with food poisoning bugs.

    Because the plants are grown in a clean room, they can be eaten safely without washing. Lettuce grown in the factories can be cropped up to 20 times a year.

    Some factories are vast - and can produce three million vegetables a year.

    The results are hygienic, but it's about as far from real food as you can possibly get.

    The spread of plant factories has been encouraged by the Japanese government amid concerns about the use of chemicals in vegetables.

    A spokesman for the Ozu Corporation factory in Tokyo said: 'Vegetables are produced in the factory without being exposed to the air outside.

    'Stable production is guaranteed throughout the year by controlling lighting, temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and water. They can also meet the demands of consumers who want safe foods.'

    Plant factories have yet to arrive in the UK. The closest Britain has are the vast greenhouses in the south of England where millions of tomatoes are grown hydroponically - without soil.

    它們看起來更像是化學商店里一排排燈火通明的貨架，而不是蔬菜園里的一排排菜架。

    不過據它們的創始人說，這些看來完美無瑕的蔬菜可能就是我們未來的食物。

    日本科學家正在開發一項蔬菜種植的新方法：整個環境完全由人工控制而且完全無菌，也就是說，這是一個既沒有灰塵也沒有昆蟲和新鮮空氣的環境。

    這些被稱為種植工廠的不起眼庫房如雨后春筍般遍布日本各地，它們每周7天、每天24小時不間斷地大量生產這種完美無暇的生菜和各類綠葉菜。

    植物的每個生長環節處于完全控制中：從照明到溫度、從濕度到水分。甚至二氧化碳的濃度每分鐘也有改變。

    工人們不像傳統菜農那樣穿著破衣服、留著臟指甲，他們都戴著手套和醫用口罩，還穿著通常在化工廠才能見到的防塵防護服。

    日本消費者高價購買這些綠葉菜、長葉生菜、茼蒿等種植廠的蔬菜。沒有使用農藥，也就不存在被污染的蔬菜引起中毒的可能。

    因為這些植物種植在干凈的房間里，不用水洗就可安全食用。在這里，生菜一年可以收割20次。

    一些大型的種植工廠一年可以生產300萬顆蔬菜。

    盡管產品很衛生，但這并非你所理解的真正意義上的食品。

    在對使用化學蔬菜的擔憂聲中，這些種植工廠的普及得到了日本政府的支持。

    東京大洲公司工廠的發言人說：“工廠內種植的蔬菜與外界空氣完全隔絕。

    “通過控制照明、溫度、濕度、二氧化碳和水，可以保證全年產量的穩定。這些產品還滿足了消費者對安全食品的要求。”

    這種類型的種植工廠尚未出現在英國。在英國，與此最相似的是英格蘭南部廣闊的蔬菜溫室，那里數百萬的西紅柿不是種在土里，而是水培種植。