Let’s talk about a situation that most of us can totally relate to; ABout 9 AM you’ve already decided that a burrito or a gyro from your favorite local place (you know, the one by the gas station) already sounds good for lunch. So when it’s finally time to call it quits for an hour, you make your way to your spot, you order your hot pocket of goodness, and you remember that instead of your full hour today, you only get about 40 minutes because you’ve got a meeting with your boss. So you decide to just eat your lunch on your way back to the office, so you take your respective burrito (or gyro) out of the bag, peel back the wrap, and as you sink your teeth in for that first glorious bite, meat, cheese, sauce, veggies, happiness shoots out of the burrito and onto your shirt, your pants, and your dignity. But what if we told you science is here to save the day by way of edible tape for your wraps? If we have your attention, keep reading.
During EngineeringDesign Day School at John Hopkins University, researchers from the Faculty of Engineering revealed what is known as “Tastee Tape”, tape that ensures your burrito won’t come apart. This tape isn’t just for burritos, it can be used for any food that is folded up or contains hot goodness that needs to be kept inside its pocket. Our first question was: so what’s it made from? The answer to that is actually pretty simple; this clear tape is made from an organic material that is easily applied after peeling it off the wax paper backing and the adhesive part is activated when exposed to moisture. Though the exact formula is top-secret right now as students are in the process of applying for a patent.
As any good scientist knows, to ensure you’ve come up with something really good, multiple tests have to be done. And don’t worry, multiple tests were done and students say the tape is strong enough to hold a large burrito. Frankly, we’ve gotten way too excited about eating before and have definitely consumed some of those little stickers that are typically on fruits, candy wrappers that are too stubborn to come off, and little bits of parchment paper from our deli sandwiches, so yeah, we’re pretty excited an edible tape has finally been invented and we look forward to trying it out ourselves and for certain shirt stains to be history.