High-Tech Fork Helps Users Improve Eating Habits

Feb 18, 2013
Tara Carberry • Lifestyle

For those guilty of occasionally inhaling—rather than eating— their food, this new product from HAPILABS is for you. The HAPIfork debuted at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show in January and promises to help users monitor their eating habits to lose weight and improve conditions such as acid reflux. According to Renee Blodgett, head of corporate marketing for HAPILABS, “HAPIfork is the world’s first connected fork that helps you eat at the right time and right pace.”

After five years in development, this high-tech fork has the ability to record every “fork serving,” or every time food is brought from your plate to your mouth. The fork tells you how many bites you take per meal, how long the intervals are between bites and how long it takes you to complete a meal from start to finish. If you are going too fast, the fork will vibrate and the LED lights on the handle will flash red.

Though adjusting eating pace may not seem like such a revolutionary change, the creators of HAPIfork argue that developing better habits with this product can have significant health benefits. Studies suggest that we do not feel fully satiated until 20 minutes after a meal, which often means that the faster we eat, the more we eat. For those struggling with weight issues, gaining a greater awareness of eating pace and the tools to adjust it is a potentially powerful development.

To support this claim, HAPILABS cites evidence such as a 2006 study from the University of Pennsylvania that found slow eaters consumed 67 less calories on average than fast eaters per meal. This finding has been supported by subsequent studies, including a 2011 survey of over 3,000 people in Japan that confirmed that eating quickly is statistically correlated to being overweight.

Additionally, HAPILABS reports that food that is eaten too quickly is often poorly chewed, which makes the work of the digestive tract more difficult. This can contribute to a greater likelihood of gastric reflux or other digestive issues. Finally, the fork is particularly useful to those who have postoperative conditions and need to slow their eating pace to reduce the stress on affected tissues.

Besides helping users to slow down at the table, the HAPIfork also claims to help them determine the optimal time for their next meal and provides an online dashboard to help measure their progress. The dashboard can be viewed from PCs and mobile phones and offers data on your last meal and your eating patterns over time. You can set goals, such as eating less than three fork servings per minute, and connect with others on Facebook or Twitter. You can choose to share photos of your meal and your progress with your social networks or keep it private.

HAPIfork is the flagship product of HAPILABS and the company has more useful gadgets in the pipeline. Blodgett explains, “HAPILABS’ goal is to help people take control of their HAPIness, health and fitness through applications and mobile connected devices,” and will be unveiling new products in coming months. HAPIwatch, which helps to monitor sleep, and HAPItrack, which helps with fitness goals, are just two on the horizon.

HAPIfork is priced at $99 and will be available for pre-order in two months.

Learn more about the HAPIfork