Have you ever been in the middle of happily gobbling away at a massive and delicious burrito, when suddenly disaster strikes and the tortilla becomes undone, leading to the entire filling pouring out and consequently ruining a once blissful experience?
There may be a solution.
Four engineering students at Johns Hopkins University have developed an edible tape which can be placed on a burrito to keep the tortilla together and prevent the contents from spilling out, according to a report from CNN.
The invention is aptly named "Tastee Tape."
The idea was spawned when the four college seniors, Tyler Guarino, Erin Walsh, Marie Eric and Rachel Nie, were brainstorming what to do for a project in their product design course. Walsh happened to be eating a burrito during the discussion, and the tortilla opened up, causing the contents to empty over her lap, Guarino told the station.
"It hit her then — this is a problem we can solve," he said.
After spending months studying normal tape, and testing 50 different formulations of an edible version, the group settled on the winning recipe.
While the undergraduates turned food scientists did not divulge the recipe's ingredients since they have a patent pending application, they did say everything they used is "food safe, GRAS (generally recognized as safe), and are common food ingredients or additives," Guarino told the outlet. The tape is also gluten-free and suitable for vegans.
The edible adhesive is completely clear and colorless, and has no taste or texture.
The directions for Tastee Tape involve a simple three step process. First, the consumer peels a strip from a waxed paper sheet, which the tape comes on. Second, they wet the tape to activate it. Finally, they apply the tape to the tortilla with pressure, as one would do for any ordinary piece of tape.
Guarrino said that both he and Eric plan on completing a Master's degree at Johns Hopkins, where they will both continue working on the project, according to the report.
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