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Packed with nutrients including iron, phosphorous, fibre and vitamins, these edible spoons are the perfect addition to a hearty meal.

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At a cost of just 2p per item, orders for the healthy, environmentally friendly cutlery have been flooding in from around the world.

Indian scientist Narayan Peesapathy came up with the idea of gulping down a spoon as a healthy side dish after becoming concerned at the amount of plastic disposable cutlery used around the world.

Mr Peesapathy, who worked for India’s International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, quit his job to market his innovation.

“I started working on edible spoons in 2004. Today, our products are available in India and we are looking at potential deals in the rest of the world,” he said.

His newly formed company, Environmental Innovations, has received queries from Dubai, Canada, America, Malaysia and Thailand.

Peesapathy is uncomfortable with plastic cutlery and the increasing market for it was worrying for him.

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“It is a petrochemical by-product and has carcinogenic qualities. It worries me not just because it is environmentally unsafe but only because it is health-wise unsafe,” he said.

Mr Peesapathy’s eureka moment came when he saw a villager in the western state of Gujarat lifting butter with a piece of khakra – a kind of hard roasted bread.

“Here I found the alternative for plastic cutlery and got the idea that we could make spoons along the lines of khakra that can be eaten with the meal,” he said.

Soon, he swung into action in his family kitchen, despite protests from his wife.

“Every night after my wife cleaned up the kitchen, I’d mess it up again,” Mr Peesapathy laughed. “I tried to make cutlery with wheat flour but learnt that it wasn’t the perfect fibre.

“Later, I thought of using Sorghum (a tropical grass). It is easy to mould and when dried it doesn’t soften easily.

“I developed a technique using wheat and rice to shape up the spoons, which works remarkably well,” he said.

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Mr Peesapathy’s company now has a staff of 15 battling to meet demand.

“We have overcome every hurdle and can produce around 1,500 spoons everyday,” he said.

Sorghum is an eco-friendly crop, which requires very little water to grow. The nutritious grass is filled with iron, phosphorous, fibres and vitamins and has a number of uses, including as a food grain, biofuel and alcohol.

Today, the crop is vanishing from India’s fields, and being replaced by rice, which is deemed as a socially upward crop.

“My invention will open up the market for sorghum again,” Mr Peesapathy explained.

The plant’s properties are known to increase immunity, reduce stress and keep cholesterol and diabetes in check.

As a raw material, Sorghum is cheaper than plastic, although it’s processing cost and the weight of spoons is higher.

“Three spoons a day keeps medicines away”, said Mr Peesapathy.

Words by Syed Wahid

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