The electric fork can enhance the flavor of fried chicken and steak.
Did you know that electricity can alter the taste of food? Japanese researchers have created a fork that uses electricity to make food taste richer, potentially serving as a substitute for some common seasonings.
According to Hiromi Nakamura, a research member at Meiji University in Tokyo, this technology could be very beneficial for those on a diet. For instance, a patient with low blood pressure can easily follow a low-salt diet while still enjoying flavorful dishes. This electric fork does not make your food overly salty. The voltage emitted by the fork is very low, so users will not risk electric shock.
Dieters can use this electric fork to enhance the flavor of their meals. (Photo: OC).
The idea of using electricity to change the flavor of food was first introduced at the Human-Computer Interaction Conference in Austin, Texas, in 2012. Nakamura and her team connected a wire to a 9-volt battery and inserted it into a straw placed in a glass of lemonade. Volunteers tried drinking the lemonade through the electric straw created by Nakamura’s team and were surprised to find that the lemonade tasted like salted lemon, as the electricity simulated the flavor of salt.
Nakamura, along with Professor Homei Miyashita, named this concept “Augmented Gustation” and improved the technology to transmit electric charges into food through forks and chopsticks. Nakamura explains: “The metal part of the fork acts as one electrode, while the handle serves as another. When users pick up a piece of food with the fork and bring it to their mouth, the circuit closes. When the fork is removed from the mouth, the circuit opens. So, it actually works like an automatic switch.”
“Our goal is to create a new type of flavor—one that humans could not perceive before.”
Simon Klose, the host of Munchies, recently visited Nakamura to try the electric fork himself and shared that it was one of the most exciting dining experiences he had ever had. In a reaction clip of his experience using the electric fork, Klose mentioned that initially, he felt quite apprehensive about the idea of electric food. However, after using the electric fork to eat fried chicken, he found it to be quite enjoyable. He felt that the chicken tasted remarkably richer.
Klose shared: “The saltiness of the chicken increased when eaten with the electric fork. This is fantastic. Besides the salty flavor, there was also a hint of spiciness.”
The flavor of electricity was actually discovered over 250 years ago. (Photo: OC).
Nakamura shared that the flavor of electricity has existed for over 250 years—it was discovered by a man named Sulzer. “One of the first factors that led Alessandro Volta to research and invent the battery was when Sulzer took two different metal plates and placed them on his tongue. Sulzer immediately experienced a strange flavor, believed to be that of electricity. And that’s how batteries were born.”
Nakamura explained that electricity itself has no flavor. She stated: “On our tongues, we have taste buds for basic tastes like sweet, salty, bitter, and sour. Electricity merely stimulates those taste buds.”
Nakamura has been consuming electrically charged food for three to four years to gain a better understanding of how it works. “We are working based on the existing senses of humans. We are inventing devices to transmit electric currents to the tongue, thereby stimulating taste and creating virtual flavors.”
