A bacon-scented meat patch – similar to a nicotine patch for smokers – has been unveiled today.
The patch, worn on the arm, is infused with a bacon scent, with wearers simply scratching the patch to get a whiff of sizzling bacon to help quell their cravings for meat.
Bosses at plant-based food firm Strong Roots teamed up with sensory expert, Professor Charles Spence at the University of Oxford, to develop the patch, the first of its kind.
One of the first people to test the patch out was last year’s Love Island runner-up Tommy Fury, a self confessed ‘meat-a-holic’.
Professor Spence, the author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating, said the patch would allow wearers to ‘imagine’ they were eating rashers of bacon, leaving them ‘satisfied’.
Tommy Fury unveils the new Meat Patch, which has been designed by plant-based food company Strong Roots to help people curb their meat cravings when trying to adopt a more plant-based diet
He said: ‘Studies have shown that scent can reduce food cravings.
‘Our sense of smell is strongly connected to our ability to taste therefore experiencing food related cues such as smelling a bacon aroma, can lead us to imagine the act of eating that food.
‘Imagine eating enough bacon and you might find yourself sated.’
A poll of 2,000 Brits found that giving up meat was believed to be tougher than giving up cigarettes or alcohol, with 18 per cent saying they would really struggle to give up meat, compared to 15 per cent for nicotine and 15 per cent for alcohol.
A poll of 2,000 Brits found that giving up meat was believed to be tougher than giving up cigarettes or booze, with 18 per cent saying they would really struggle to give up meat, compared to 15 per cent for fags and 15 per cent for alcohol
The study also found that bacon was the meat that most would miss if they went vegetarian or vegan, with 20 per cent saying it was their favourite meat, followed by steak, with 15 per cent, and sausages, with 14 per cent.
A total of 69 per cent of those quizzed said they loved eating meat, with 28 per cent saying they were ‘meat-a-holics’.
One-in-10 said they ate meat with every meal, with 33 per cent saying they ate meat at least once a day.
Despite this, 36 per cent admitted they felt guilty when eating meat – with 43 per cent saying they wanted to reduce the amount of meat they ate.
The study found that half of Brits admitted trying to cut down on the meat they eat, although 56 admitted they failed within the first month and ended up eating the same amount to meat as previously.
Graham Innes, 45, of St Albans, Herts said he thought the patch would encourage him to eat even more bacon.
The building firm boss said: ‘If I can smell bacon I’ll want to eat bacon – it’s very simple.
‘I’m not going to be satisfied with a cheese sandwich when I can smell bacon coming from the patch – it might work for some, but it would never work for me, I’d be down the nearest cafe for a bacon roll.’
A spokesman for Strong Roots said today: ‘Brits keen to adopt a vegetarian diet are about to get scientifically-proven help to wean them off their love of meat. ‘A meat patch – similar to a nicotine patch – is being trialled from this weekend in order to help a nation of carnivores kick the habit.
A spokesman for Strong Roots said today: ‘Brits keen to adopt a vegetarian diet are about to get scientifically-proven help to wean them off their love of meat.
‘A meat patch – similar to a nicotine patch – is being trialled from this weekend in order to help a nation of carnivores kick the habit.
‘It comes after a study of 2,000 adults found that between cigarettes, alcohol and meat, meat is the hardest to give up.’
Samuel Dennigan, the founder of Strong Roots, said: ‘It’s Veganuary and we know that more people than ever are trying to adopt a plant-based lifestyle this year.
‘However, the research shows just how many of them struggle with their resolution, so we wanted to offer a helping hand, and have developed the world’s first ever meat-patch.
‘We hope it goes some way to supporting all the meat-a-holics out there.’