USA — According to a study published in Food Research International, a team of scientists have designed cutlery which could help to alter the taste of food and help to cut down on the amount of salt we consume.

Human beings have the tendency to eat a lot of salt because it makes food taste good, even though too much salt isn't good for the body, reports IEEE Spectrum.

Nimesha Ranasinghe, assistant professor at the University of Maine and director of the Multisensory Interactive Media Lab, came up with the idea of using utensils such as chopsticks and soup bowls to transmit the salty flavor to the tongue.

Ranasinghe said he experimented with the amplitude, the frequency and with the placement of electrodes on different utensils.

He designed a pair of chopsticks with electrodes embedded in the tips of the chopstick which would send taste sensations to the tongue once turned on.

Ranasinghe said recent research shows all the regions of the tongue can detect all five taste senses, reports IEEE Spectrum.

He told Newsweek the technology would be able to simulate different flavors such as sourness, saltiness, and bitterness with around 70 percent accuracy.

The scientist has also experimented with different objects such as flavor-enhancing water bottles, straws, spoons, and even an Internet-connected cocktail glass aka a "vocktail."

He admits the technology is still in its beginning stages, however he has hope that " ... one day virtual flavors will burst onto the tongue … "