Can Edible Cutlery Replace Plastic Cutlery?

Posted on 28/10/2020

Replace Plastic Cutlery with Edible Cutlery

It does sound like an entertaining idea, right? You never have to worry about things like junk disposal and waste recycling if you can simply eat whatever you are about to recycle. Edible spoons have been around for a while and they do work most of the time. They are supposed to be the solution to the waste disposal problem of unrecyclable plastic materials. Yes, in case you did not heard, disposable cutlery is made of polystyrene, which is only partially recyclable and its rubbish disposal actually does more harm than good. So what do edible cutlery have to bring to the picture? Let’s see the pros and cons:

Advantages of Edible Cutlery

+ No need to dispose of it. No more rubbish disposal of plastic cutlery! You just eat it. It is an excellent alternative that also provides more delicious flavour and substance to your usual takeaway meal.

+ Light and easy to use. Just like the plastic ones, you can carry them easily, they are compact and will not take neither effort nor space before using them. And they will be non-existent after using them.

+ A variety of flavours. There already people making spoons, forks, and sporks out of rice, wheat, and even chocolate. More flavours are sure to come and they will be a much better option than a non-edible product that ultimately result in pollution.

+ Could replace bread products. Remember breadsticks? Who doesn’t like breadsticks! Well, an edible spoon made of wheat basically replaces those and it provides a much more practical version with more than one flavour.

+ Works with most foods. Edible utensils could work with quite a lot of foods – soups, spaghetti, rice meals, finger-dishes, etc.

Disadvantages of Edible Cutlery

- Far from mass production. The mass production of edible cutlery is a long way away. Even if such a trend enters, it has to be used quickly otherwise you will be facing a date of expiration problems.

- Waste in packaging. There is no getting rid of waste. But where plastic cutlery could be kept with a single rubber band, edible cutlery will need special packaging otherwise they will be exposed to outside contamination, or they will be easily breakable.

- Easy to damage before use. As mentioned above, food is easily breakable. An edible spoon quickly stops being a spoon and becomes simply food if it is mishandled and broken before or during use.

- Bad with solid foods. Takeaway stake is a thing in some places, and there are also the options of getting a kebob-type of meal from eastern-European style avenues. These are notoriously hard to cut with a plastic fork and knife, let alone with something meant to be food.

- Cost-effective? And this does still remain a question – just how cost-effective will the edible cutlery be? A plastic fork and spoon are basically free, but there is no such thing as free food. So just how will they cost and should you bother getting them, considering long-term use.

How does using edible cutlery sound to you now? It is one type of revolution, but is it the type that replaces all kinds of plastic and can it be used by everybody? It sure has some strong points in the advantages field, and the pros slightly do outweigh the cons. Maybe it does have a more massive future in the food and service industry and maybe it will be the new thing which you can find in most restaurants. The best thing about it is that it aims to provide for a safer environment, and that it does – it eliminates the need for junk disposal and is therefore about as useful and healthy as a tool.