Japanese researchers have created smart kitchenware that relies on electricity to make food saltier and tastier without adding any extra salt.

Salt makes food taste so much better, but it’s also a very dangerous ingredient that, consumed in excess, can cause serious health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. But what if we could make food taste salty without using any salt? That’s what scientists at Meiji University and developers Kirin Holdings have been working on for several years now. Back in April, we featured their first breakthrough creation – a pair of smart chopsticks – but now they have a couple of commercial products ready to hit the shelves.

The smart chopsticks we wrote about a few months back worked as intended –  they transmitted sodium ions from the food to the mouth of the user to create an enhanced sensation of saltiness – but they had a big problem as well. Because of their limited surface, the chopsticks needed to be connected to a power source on the user’s forearm. However, the newest utensils devised by the team behind the project suffer from no such limitations.

A smart spoon and bowl recently showcased by the brilliant minds behind the project feature ample space for a built-in battery, so you no longer have to worry about hooking them up to a power supply every time you use them.

SoraNews24 reports that the new smart spoon and bowl can make food taste 1.5 times saltier, which is welcome news to the many people who love salty food, but need to watch their salt intake for health reasons. Even better is the news that the new smart utensils are ready for commercialization and are expected to hit the Japanese market early next year.

The new products will be called Erekisoruto (エレキソルト) and will have built-in batteries. The price is unknown at this time.