This Electric Fork Stimulates The Taste of Salt

Salt is one of our greatest weaknesses, along with sugar, but it can cause serious health problems.

So, researchers in Japan have built a fork-shaped device that adds the salty taste without adding the salt. A battery-powered fork will electrically shock your taste buds to stimulate the taste of salt, as well as also sourness and different food textures.

While it is still in the prototype stages, the “electric flavouring fork” is geared towards individuals who are on low-salt or salt-free diets, but still want to taste the salt. The fork was developed based on the “electric flavoring” technology being researched by Hiromi Nakamura at Rekimoto Lab, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies, the University of Tokyo.

Nakamura, who is part of the ‘No Salt Restaurant’ project that aims to improve local diets, told Inverse, “It’s a technology that allows electricity to be used as seasoning.”

Features & How it works

The handle of the fork has a rechargeable battery and electric circuit, much like an electric toothbrush. The battery life lasts for about six hours and the prototype isn’t water-proof.

When you put the prongs of the fork in your mouth, you push a button on the handle, which then sends a soft electrical current to the tongue making you taste the salt. The researchers say that if you push too far with the fork, it might create an unpleasant metallic taste in your mouth.

The prototype was priced at $18, but no word yet on when the final product will be released or how much it might cost.