There’s an electric salt spoon that adds umami flavor

If you’re cutting salt out of your diet, either for medical reasons or just trying to be healthy, low-sodium foods can be a letdown. But don’t despair — Japanese company Kirin claims to have a solution in its Electric Salt Spoon, which uses electrodes to electrify your tongue to give you a little salty shock.

The idea, as Reuters puts it, is that it passes a small electric current to “concentrate sodium ion molecules on the tongue,” enhancing salty flavor. It’s like techno-umami. The company says the goal is to get people to eat healthier by letting them eat low-sodium food without being sad about how unsalty it is.

Kirin partnered with Professor Homei Miyashita from Japan’s Meiji University School of...

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