On the first night of CES 2025, Kirin Holdings, a Japanese company known for its beer and drinks, showed off its new electronic spoon that makes your food saltier. The company says its spoon uses a weak electric current to concentrate sodium ion molecules in your food, adding a stronger umami and salt flavor to low-sodium foods.
A limited supply of the electronic salt spoon went on sale in Japan in 2024 for about $127 USD, but Kirin hopes to sell the device around the globe in the coming years. The company claims that this device can significantly increase the “saltiness” of your food, without adding any extra sodium.
A crowd of people sampled some soup using Kirin’s spoon at CES Unveiled in Las Vegas. TechCrunch didn’t try it itself, because there’s something about a scoop of communal tech conferences that just isn’t that appetizing.
While the spoon seems too good to be true, there is some compelling research behind it that suggests it may be legit. The launch of Kirin’s spoon product marked the first commercialization of the technology that won the 2023 Ig Nobel Prize, a satirical award for unusual scientific research. The researchers behind it first published their thesis in 2011, but have since made spoons, forks and chopsticks that pass electrical currents through food.
Kirin says he created the spoon to help people consume less salt. This problem is particularly important in Japan, where the country’s adult population eats more than twice the amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
