Aptly named, the chopsticks born from the collaboration between the Kirin food company and the Meiji University of Tokyo use a slight electric current to convey the impression that the food is saltier.
This is the result of the effort of some Japanese researchers: they look like ordinary chopsticks, with the only addition of a cable that connects them to a small computer worn on the wrist.
A slight electric current and absorbs sodium ions from food, the chemical component of flavor.
The computer worn on the wrist modulates the current in order to create a single wavelength, safe for the user.
The daily salt intake of a Japanese adult is 10.9 grams for men and 9.3 for women: much more than the 5 grams per day indicated by the WHO.
Says researcher Ai Sato: “We must decrease the amount of salt we eat if we want to prevent diseases, but reducing it in a conventional way would force us to remove our favorite foods from our diet or we will have to accept to eat foods with less flavor”.
Researchers now plan to refine the wands and make them marketable within the next year.
