Let’s be honest: Most low-sodium foods aren’t that great, making it hard for most of us to make the swap to lower our intake. blood pressure and avoid heart disease. Including gadgets and new tech CES may be the solution to that problem.

The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon can give your food a salty taste without any of the disadvantages of added sodium. It was one of the standout products at this year’s CES and earned the spot for the best awesome tech in our List of CES awards.

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 who thinks that electricity and tongues don’t usually mix. Fortunately, it is a weak electricity.

The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon comes in two pieces: the spoon and the removable handle, which houses all the pieces of technology. The handle has menu buttons for changing the four salinity levels. The spoon is a bit chunky in the hand, although it’s not 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… OK. The best way to describe the change in taste of the soup given in the demo is that it tastes more “full” when the charge continues. The difference in taste is slightly noticeable between the intensities. Kirin notes in a release that the experience varies from person to person and the sensation may vary depending on the food.

The spoon does what it says, although activating the current may feel like the stars aligning 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 can wrap your fist around it, like what a small child would do. On the spoon side, there is a separate sensor that needs to touch the food to receive the saltiness blast. The handle has a blue light under the button that turns white when ready. If the food moves the spoon sensor, you will lose the content and your food will not be salty.

Touching the sensors on the back of the handle and moving the food to the right place on the spoon to activate the current can be a balancing act that can get old quickly.

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The Kirin Electric Salt Spoon is an interesting concept with the important mission of reducing sodium intake. I 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 tried the spoon, it added flavor to the soup as described. However, I still don’t fully trust this spoon. The steps to make it work are awkward, and we can’t rule out the possibility that the placebo effect may be at play to some extent.

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