Electric spoon and bowl that makes food taste saltier set for release next year

September 12, 2022

A new set of bowls and spoons that use electric currents to make food taste saltier is close to commercialization and set to release sometime in 2023.

Developers at Meiji University in Tokyo and Kirin Holdings have created bowls and spoons that can enhance salty flavors in food. The researchers previously developed chopsticks in April that use the same technology for stimulating the taste of salt.

“We have developed a unique current waveform that enhances the current, and we have developed a spoon- and bowl-shaped ‘Elexolt’ device equipped with this technology,” Kirin Holdings stated on Wednesday.

Due to the chopsticks’ slender form, however, users had to strap the battery to their wrist.

The new dinnerware uses attachable batteries to generate a weak, non-harmful electric current, a waveform of which passes from the surface of the utensil to the food. The ions bunch together and simulate the taste of salt as part of what the researchers are calling “Electric taste sensation” technology.

The products can purportedly make food taste 1.5 times saltier. In comparison, the chopstick prototypes held a 30 percent increase in produced salty flavors.

The bowls and spoons will include four power levels for salt intensity.

Developers created the products in hope of reducing salt intake in dishes such as miso soup and ramen.

“It’s hard to put up with delicious food. We want to tackle the social issue of eating too much salt,” a lead developer at Kirin Holdings stated per Yomiuri Shimbun.

Kirin Holdings stated that the electric utensils will be called “Ereiksoruto” in Japanese and will be available to purchase sometime in 2023. An English name for the products has not yet been revealed.

Featured Image via ANNnewsCH

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