‘Tasty Spoon’ device aims to boost food flavours for people with dementia

The ‘Tasty Spoon’ is a breakthrough technological aid aiming to use electrostimulation to help people with taste loss, a symptom of dementia, with the hope to maintain a level of healthy nutrition.

Development of the aid is being led by Sheffield University, drawing on the design and prototyping skills of engineers from the AMRC to create the spoon.

Having dementia can cause a decline of working taste buds which can lead to people not eating sufficient amounts of the right foods, or by eating more salt and sugar to compensate for the loss of flavour. The researchers said that this can lead to high levels of malnutrition or an increased risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

In a statement, project lead Dr Christian Morgner, of Sheffield University’s Management School and Healthy Lifespan Institute, said: “A loss of taste can remove the enjoyment of food which impacts patient wellbeing as food plays such a significant role in our lives. This is especially prevalent in patients who live alone or in public care homes with more generalised nutrition.