Have you set a New Year’s resolution? eat less salt? This is a good goal, especially for people with hypertension. Although, if you don’t have these problems, it would be a good idea to reduce the amount of salt. Prevention will always be better than cure. The problem is that it can be difficult to give up this delicious dressing, as without it the food seems bland. There is an option to improve the taste with spices, but we don’t always get the desired result. For this reason, a group of Chinese scientists developed electric spoon giving food a salty taste no added salt.
The electric spoon went on sale in May last year, although it has become more common now after winning a CES 2025 Innovation Award.
The company that produces these innovative cutlery Kirin Holdingsstarted thinking about it in 2022. Although initially they did not make an electric spoon, but some kind of chopsticks it improved the taste of the food. Although the news was met with great interest in the technology sector, it remained nothing more than a prototype. However, later they decided to improve the technique and try their luck with a much more versatile cutlery, such as a spoon. The results were so promising that they finally released it for sale with small edition of 200 units. Following the success they have had with the award, they hope to release a new edition in February. Are you interested? Let’s first see how it works.
An electric spoon to say goodbye to the salt shaker
This electric spoon works with two electrodesone is located on the handle and the other is on the blade, which is inserted into the food and into the mouth. They work similar to how battery anode and cathode. The only thing missing is a bridge through which electrons can circulate. This is where saliva comes into play.
When we grab a spoon and put it in our mouth, electric current which attracts sodium ions from food. Table salt is sodium chloride, molecule consisting of chlorine and sodium. When decomposed, it releases negative chlorine ions and positive sodium ions, the latter being responsible for salty taste.
Many foods contain sodium without the need to add salt. The problem is that if these ions are found in low concentrations, they are diluted by saliva and do not penetrate tissue as easily. taste buds. However, with the help of an electric spoon, they are attracted to them, enhancing the taste.
Does this really work?
Kirin Holdings claims that its electric chopsticks were tested in a trial involving 31 people and gave very good results. Improved salty taste 1.5 times. This is not a very large aggregate sample, but spoon buyers are added to the mix. They also seem happy, although at the moment there are still few people.
In the second race we will see if everyone remains as optimistic. Since we will have to wait until February, those interested can join the waiting list.
Currently the starting price is 19,800 yen. just over 123 euros. Whether it’s worth paying that much for a spoon is up to everyone to decide for themselves. Of course, if it actually works and someone can afford it, it’s an interesting gadget.
In any case, we can also develop our taste by consuming less salt each time. Thus, it happens like with sugar. There comes a time when the brain gets used to these tastes and does not require more from us. Of course, this is a less cool option, but much cheaper than electric spoon.
Source: Hiper Textual
