TOKYO — Japanese drinks large Kirin Holdings will begin promoting an electrified spoon that researchers declare can promote more healthy consuming by enhancing salty tastes with out additional sodium.
Monday’s product launch marks the primary commercialization of know-how that final 12 months received an Ig Nobel Prize, which honors uncommon and eccentric analysis.
Kirin will promote simply 200 of its Electric Salt Spoons on-line for 19,800 yen ($127) this month and a restricted run at a Japanese retailer in June, however is hoping for 1 million customers globally inside 5 years. Sales abroad will begin subsequent 12 months.
The spoon, made from plastic and metallic, was co-developed with Meiji University professor Homei Miyashita, who beforehand demonstrated the taste-enhancing impact in prototype electrical chopsticks. The impact works by passing a weak electrical area from the spoon to pay attention the sodium ion molecules on the tongue to boost the perceived saltiness of the meals.
Kirin, which is pivoting in the direction of healthcare from its conventional beer business, mentioned the know-how has specific significance in Japan, the place the common grownup consumes about 10 grams of salt per day, double the quantity advisable by the World Health Organization.
Excess sodium consumption is expounded to elevated incidence of hypertension, strokes and different illnesses.
“Japan has a food culture that tends to favor salty flavors,” mentioned Kirin researcher Ai Sato. “Japanese people as a whole need to reduce the amount of salt intake but it can be difficult to move away from what we’re used to eating.
“That’s what led us to develop this electrical spoon.”
Weighing 60 grams, the spoon runs on a chargeable lithium battery.
Miyashita and his co-creator, Hiromi Nakamura, had been introduced with the Ig Nobel Nutrition Prize by immunologist and Nobel Prize laureate Peter Doherty in a web based ceremony final 12 months. — Reuters
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
