Have you ever had a meal so delicious that you licked the plate clean and wondered if you could eat the plate too? Well, one day you might. But for now you can rejoice in the knowledge that you can eat the spoon at least!

Yes, edible cutlery has entered the Indian market, thanks to Hyderabad based researcher Narayana Peesapaty's innovation. His frustration with mounting disposable plastic ware, concern for water short-age, inequitable energy distribution and consumption, and increased rural to urban influx gave birth to Bakerys Foods Private Limited in 2010. The enterprise specializes in making sorghum (jowar) based range of edible spoons, sporks (fork-like spoons), and chopsticks.

Peesapaty offers spoons- simple, dessert and soup variants- in different flavors and colors. He uses vegetable pulp from spinach, beetroot and carrot to produce tempting products. His spoons come in neutral, sweet and savory flavors. Sorghum, being a tighter cereal, lends to toughness to the cutlery which can be used up to 20 minutes into the meals even if one doesn't wish to eat the cutlery, it is biodegradable and takes only three days to decompose on its own.

Naureen Shaikh

T. Y. B. Pharm.

Tags: MET Institute of Pharmacy