There’s an electric salt spoon that adds umami flavor
![The Electric Salt Spoon on a table next to two bowls.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WahLF3kmKPF81SbbfegTsM0b7Kk=/0x69:1088x794/1310x873/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/73361663/Top_About.0.jpg)
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...