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Electric Spoon Lightly Shocks You to Make Food Taste Saltier

Kirin pointed toward relatively high average sodium intake levels among Japanese consumers as the motivation behind the new device.

Electric Salt Spoon
Kirin

Kirin has designed a spoon and bowl combo that use weak electric currents to make food, especially lower sodium options, taste saltier.

Working in collaboration with the Meiji University Dr. Homei Miyashita Laboratory of the Department of Frontier Media Science, School of Interdisciplinary Mathematical Sciences, the company developed the "Electric Salt" device, which it said boosts the perceived saltiness of foods by 1.5 times.

The spoon is powered on through a switch on the handle and offers four different levels of flavor intensity. The bowl is similarly powered on and the electric current is delivered to the food when the user holds the bowl in their hands.

The company plans to test the Electric Salt devices between September and November 2022 with help from Noruto and Orangepage. If all goes to plan, the devices will be commercially launched in Japan in 2023.

Kirin pointed toward relatively high average sodium intake levels among Japanese consumers as the motivation behind the new device. The company assured that its "Electric taste sensation" technology does not affect the human body in a negative capacity and only changes the way food tastes via "pseudo-sensory perception."

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