By YUJI YAMASHITA/ Staff Writer
September 15, 2022 at 18:05 JST
An "Electric Salt" bowl and spoon devices developed to enhance the perceived salty taste in low-sodium foods with electric stimulation under the joint project by Kirin Holdings Co. and Meiji University (Yuji Yamashita)
For those unable to reach for the salt shaker due to high blood pressure or other health issues, a newly invented bowl and spoon may help satisfy their sodium craving.
Kirin Holdings Co. and its project partner, Meiji University, have developed a bowl and spoon to enhance the salty taste of food through a minor electric stimulation while keeping the sodium content low.
Under the new technology, when a person takes a bite of food from an “Electric Salt” spoon or “Electric Salt” bowl after turning on their power source, faint electric currents flow in the food and through the body.
The electric stimulation controls the movement of sodium in the food, which is related to how a person perceives the saltiness.
The current allows the amount of sodium ions touching a person’s tongue at each bite to increase, resulting in a change in the way the food tastes and the perception that it tastes saltier than in reality.
The level of electric current is harmless to human health, according to Homei Miyashita, a scientist who leads the university’s research team for the project.
Users of the devices can choose four levels of a salty taste.
Kirin Holdings said an experiment involving 31 men and women who are on a low-salt diet found that the electric salt devices could enhance the salty flavor of low-sodium food by 1.5 times.
The company plans to market the devices for home use next year after carrying out a demonstration experiment until November.
Under the experiment, readers of publications by Orangepage Inc., which specializes in the food products sector, and the operator of Muen-Genen.com, an online retailer of reduced-sodium food, will be enlisted.
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