Everything is digital: chopsticks too!
Yes, you read that right. Chopsticks that you use with Eastern food are also made digitally. The reason for which will surprise you.
We all know. Sugar and salt are not good for you if you use too much. But they do make our food taste better. Just as VR goggles can trick the eyes into seeing 3D worlds that don’t exist, these chopsticks can trick the user’s tongue into savoring salty flavors, even in healthier, low-sodium dishes.
Chopsticks that are digital
So you are being tricked, but your brain thinks that you are eating salt, for example. The chopsticks were jointly developed by researchers at the Yoshinori Miyashita Laboratory of the Department of Advanced Media Science, Meiji University. And a Japanese food producer called Kirin, best known for its beer. The sticks were created as part of an effort by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare to reduce the Japanese people’s daily salt intake. On average, the intake is significantly higher than the World Health Organization recommendations.
The goal is to reduce the amount of salt consumed by at least 20%, but that also leads to a reduction in taste. An endlessly problematic stumbling block for those trying to switch over and stick to a healthier diet.
Healthier
That’s where the chopsticks come in. At the tip of it is a metal contact that sends an electric current of a specific waveform into a diner’s mouth that affects the ions in sodium chloride and monosodium glutamate, so that the salty and umami flavors that their taste buds have enhanced. The question is whether this will really work as an alternative and whether we will get similar forks in Europe to eat with…
