Can an electric spoon from Japan help reduce your salt intake? Its inventors explain

The spoon uses an electric current to make food taste saltier, so you don’t feel the need to add more, and the risks of salt overconsumption

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The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon from Japan intensifies saltiness in food using a mild electric current, the idea being to lower our sodium consumption. Photo: AP

Published: 12:45pm, 10 Jan 2025

You might not have thought that the spoon needed reinventing. Innovators in Japan, however, are convinced that a hi-tech spoon can help us eat more healthily – by stopping us from wanting to reach for the soy sauce or salt shaker.

A spoon from Japanese company Kirin uses a light electronic current to make food taste saltier than it actually is, making users satisfied with less salt.

If it proves practical in everyday settings, the Electric Salt Spoon could help tackle a global problem of salt overconsumption.

While we need some sodium to survive, much research has linked heavy salt intake to high blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, gastric cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and kidney disease, as well as 1.89 million annual deaths globally, according to World Health Organization figures.

The technology behind the reinvented spoon relies on a weak electric current that brings sodium ions to the tongue, where they become concentrated and more noticeable.

Kirin showed the spoon at the annual CES technology event hosted by the Consumer Technology Association in Las Vegas, Nevada, in early January. Kirin says that it works best with liquids like soups and sauces.