We Tested an Electric Salt Spoon That Might Help You Stick to Your Low-Sodium Diet

Let’s be honest: Most low-sodium foods aren’t that great, which makes it difficult for many of us to make the swap to lower our blood pressure and fend off heart disease. Among the gadgets and new tech at CES might be the solution to that problem. 

The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon can give your food a salty taste with none of the downsides of the added sodium. It was one of the standout products at CES this year and snagged the spot for the best weird tech on our CES awards list.

The device sends electricity from the spoon to your tongue to give you the sensation of saltiness. Trust me, you’re not the only one thinking that electricity and tongues generally don’t mix. Thankfully, it’s a weak electric current.

The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon comes in two pieces: the spoon and the detachable handle, which houses all the tech pieces. The handle has menu buttons for changing the four saltiness levels. The spoon is pretty chunky in hand, though it’s not entirely surprising with the batteries and electronic parts inside. 

While the idea is cool, we have to admit that while testing the Kirin Electric Salt Spoon, we thought it was… OK. The best way to describe the flavor change of the broth provided at the demo was that it tasted more “full” when the charge was going. The taste difference was slightly noticeable between the intensities. Kirin notes in a release that the experience will vary by person and the feeling may vary depending on the food.

The spoon does what it says, though activating the current might feel like getting the stars to align for some. The handle is thick, with sensors on the back of the spoon that you have to touch to activate it. Depending on your dexterity, you might have to wrap your fist around it, similar to how a toddler would. On the spoon segment, there’s a different sensor that the food needs to touch to receive the burst of saltiness. The handle has a blue light below the button that turns white when ready. If the food shifts off the sensor in the spoon, you lose your current and your food won’t be salty.

Touching the sensors on the back of the handle and moving the food to the right spot on the spoon to activate the current could be a balancing act that quickly gets old.

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The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon is an interesting concept with an important mission of reducing sodium intake. I could see this spoon moving the needle in a meaningful way for people who need to quickly reduce their sodium intake for health reasons. When we tested the spoon, it amped up the broth’s flavor as described. However, I wouldn’t completely bank on this spoon just yet. The steps to getting it to work are awkward, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the placebo effect might be at play to some degree.

The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon is available in Japan and should be available in North America this year. It will cost around $125, which might be hard to justify for a spoon. Kirin states that people using pacemakers or other medical devices should not use its spoon.