Kirin Holdings Launches Electric Sedok To Increase Salty Taste Without Additional Sodium

Kirin Holdings, will begin selling power spoons claimed by researchers to promote healthier diets (photo: x @Kirin_holdings)

JAKARTA - Japanese beverage company Kirin Holdings will start selling electric spoons claimed by researchers to promote healthier diets by increasing salted flavor without additional sodium. The launch of the product on Monday 20 May marked the first commercialization of the technology that last year won the Nobel Prize, which respects unusual and entertaining research.

Kirin will sell just 200 units of Electric Salt fire online for 19,800 yen (IDR 2.03 million) this month and in limited quantities at Japanese retailers in June, but hopes to reach 1 million users globally in five years. Sales overseas will start next year.

This paradox, made of plastic and metal, was jointly developed with professor Homei Miyashita of Meiji University, which previously demonstrated the effect of increased flavor in the prototype electricity supply. This effect works by flowing a weak electric field from a spoon to concentrate sodium ion molecules on the tongue, thereby increasing the salted taste of the food felt.

Kirin, who is transitioning to the health sector of its traditional beer business, said the technology has a special meaning in Japan, where the average adult consumes about 10 grams of salt per day, doubling the amount recommended by the World Health Organization.

The excessive intake of sodium is related to an increase in incidence of high blood pressure, stroke, and other diseases.

"Japanese food culture tends to like salty taste," said Kirin researcher Ai Sato. "Japanese people as a whole need to reduce the amount of salt intake but it can be difficult to get away from what we usually eat. That's what encourages us to develop this power spoon."

Weighing 60 grams, this spoon is run with a rechargeable lithium battery.

Miyashita and her partner, Hiromi Nakamura, were awarded the Nobel Ig Prize for Nutrition by Nobel laureate immunologist and winner Peter Doherty at an online ceremony last year.