Simplified control panel for a food preparation machine

A machine (1) for preparing food or beverage products is provided. Said machine (1) is adapted for injecting a fluid under pressure in an ingredient capsule inserted therein. Said machine (1) comprises a fluid reservoir (3), a fluid system, a fluid heating element, and a controller for managing at least one preparation parameter, and further comprises a selector for allowing a user to manually select at least one food or beverage preparation parameter. Said selector comprises a sliding element (10,16) comprising at least two independent switch actuators (23,24), and a contact panel (11) comprising at least two selector switches (21) linked to the machine controller, such that each of said selector switches (21) is actuated or unactuated by the presence or the absence of the corresponding switch actuator (23,24) for each given position of said sliding element (10,16), and such that the simultaneous state of actuation of said switches (21) is interpreted by said controller as a bitmap code for setting at least one corresponding preparation parameter.