New device lets people enjoy healthy foods
A DEVICE that tricks people’s tongues could be used to make healthy foods into delicious, exciting-tasting treats, and could eventually save lives.
The Taste Buddy is placed in the mouth before eating something boring. And it then uses thermal and electric signals to make that taste far better, by stimulating the taste buds.
For the moment, that stimulation can only come in the form of sweet or salty tastes.
But in the future, the people behind the tool hope that they can change diets entirely, transforming salads into the taste of juicy steak, or making broccoli taste like chocolate.
Professor Adrian Cheok, from City, University of London, who led the team of scientists and engineers that created the device said: “What started out as a fun Keong Fook, managing director of Unique Seafood Sdn Bhd, each space is designed to be flexible enough to handle multiple private functions at the same time, while still offering privacy to the patrons.
But what sets Unique Seafood apart from the rest? Wong cites its “never-ending supply of seafood”.
As a major live seafood supplier in Malaysia, Unique Seafood has over 80 different types of seafood.
According to Wong, many restaurants are reluctant to offer premium seafood dishes in wedding banquet sets because they would need to order in bulk, and would have to “bear the mortality cost” or wastage, if there is no demand from patrons. engineering experiment has now led to something much more exciting, with the potential to have a positive social impact.
“The Taste Buddy could eventually help save lives, by allowing people to switch to
“Many restaurants and hotels begin preparing and freezing the seafood two days before a function because of the lack of manpower, and to secure their seafood stock, but our restaurant is different.
“If you have a wedding function tonight, we begin preparing the seafood at 5pm on the same day, so it always tastes fresh,” said Wong.
Wong adds that while a typical wedding menu offers simple dishes such as glutinous rice, shark’s fin soup, a prawn or fish dish, and the hot and cold ‘four seasons’ appetizer, Unique Seafood is able to serve up different offerings.
Unique Seafood even has soon hock (marble goby) in its wedding menu packages, a premium healthier food choices.”
Cheok added: “Many children hate the taste of vegetables. So I knew that when I became an engineer, I wanted to make a device that could allow children to eat vegetables that taste like freshwater fish that not many highend Chinese restaurants offer.
“Some customers opt for a lobster side dish in their four seasons appetizer, and we can also put in live abalone, Japanese spider crab and Alaskan king crab … We can do that for our customers and I believe that is our specialty – if you ask for it, then we will give it to you,” said Wong.
All Unique Seafood restaurants are pork-free, except The Elite Seafood Restaurant and The Pantai Seafood Restaurant. chocolate.”
In its current early form, the Taste Buddy consists of a 2cm wide tab that sits on the tongue and is wired to a bulky processor.
To enhance sweetness, the device warms up very rapidly and stimulates specific taste receptors that react to heat.
A weak electric current is used to target other taste buds responsible for salty flavours.
Members of the public will have a chance to try out the Taste Buddy for themselves at The Big Bang UK Young Scientists and Engineers Fair.
The event, aimed at young people interested in science, technology and engineering, takes place from March 15 to 18, 2017 at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. – The Independent