Engineers Invent Edible Tape For The Best Reason
Well this is perfect.
Science and technology has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 100 years. We now have medicines we never could have imagined, cures to illnesses that once wiped out nations, and deep exploration in space that was previously only dreamt of. And now, a group of engineering students have come up with the next life changing invention – edible tape. That’s right, four seniors at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore put their heads together to design the most incredible, edible answer for all of your “I love this food, but it always falls apart” needs. How many times have you been eating a burrito when the insides came tumbling out, leaving a wake of beans, cheese, and fillings laying on your deli paper, or even worse, your clothing?
That’s precisely the tragic occurrence that befell student Erin Walsh, whose lunchtime delicacy unfurled itself all over her. But, from this devastating moment, the idea for edible tape was born. Huzzah! Walsh and her friends, Tyler Guarino, Marie Eric, and Rachel Nie realized they could turn what seemed like just another assignment for their product design course into a world altering tool and thus, the idea for the edible adhesive was born.
From here, it was all up for the witty students as they’ve released “Tastee Tape” as their prototype. But the path to genius was filled with bumps. Guarino reports that the team spent loads of grueling hours taking in the intricacies of sticky, inedible tape as we know it in an attempt to learn as much as they could before making the jump to the edible revolution. Exactly what did they concentrate on? That was broken down into three different sections. For one thing, the tape absolutely had to be clear and lacking color, like a Scotch tape, and it very obviously couldn’t have any taste or texture that might pull diners away from their tasty burrito or wrap. After 50 tries, the perfect recipe was born. As luck would have it, not only were they able to make this all happen, but they were also able to steer away from gluten and animal products, rendering the edible tape vegan friendly and gluten free.
While we can’t report as to when you can expect to see Tastee Tape in stores, we do know the steps to preparing it for its important purpose in the line of duty for all of your burrito needs. Backed by wax paper, consumers will need to first peel the tape from its captor – easy enough. Step two is waiting for the tape to activate and while it’s not totally clear as to what this means, we’re presuming it may take some air time to allow the tape to reach the desired stickiness needed to hold your wrapped food together. Finally, it’s time to apply. As you adhere your edible tape to your tortilla or other wrappable shell, you’ll want to press down to make sure it really stays in place.
And there you have it. Like many additions to the great world of science, edible tape had its humble beginnings as something an everyday person was annoyed about and had the knowledge to fix. Keep an eye out in the approaching months to see Tastee Tape land on shelves in a store near you.
