These chopsticks allow you to eat salty… without adding salt

After the lickable screen allowing dishes to be tasted from a distance, Japanese researchers have created chopsticks giving the illusion of eating saltier than in reality. The tool, designed in collaboration with the Japanese beer brand Kirin, was presented on April 11.

The aim is to allow the Japanese to reduce the consumption of salt in their dishes while continuing to benefit from this flavor enhancer, reports Reuters relayed by BFM TV. Indeed, the overconsumption of salt worries in Japan. The population would consume an average of 9 to 10 grams of salt per day, which is twice the recommendations of the WHO.

1.5% more fictitious salt

This overconsumption can lead to various health problems, such as high blood pressure and strokes. To give the illusion of saltiness, the researchers therefore developed chopsticks that reinforced the salty taste by 1.5%. The utensil is associated with a microcomputer worn on the wrist which sends weak, imperceptible electrical impulses to the palate.

These small discharges increase the diffusion of sodium ions, the basis of the salty taste, in the mouth. This system could be deployed on all kitchen utensils. The same researchers had already developed a prototype “salt fork”. Currently in the test phase, salt sticks could be marketed in Japan by 2023.