Do you love burritos but don’t have the restaurant-grade wrapping skills to, you know, keep it together? A group of Maryland college students has come up with a deliciously ingenious solution: edible burrito tape.
Student Erin Walsh, a member of the all-woman team of Johns Hopkins University undergraduates that created the burrito tape, was inspired during a brainstorming session for a product design course while she was, well, eating a burrito.
“One of my favorite foods is burritos and wraps. I’m a student-athlete, so I’m not looking to make a skimpy burrito. I’m really trying to fill it with substance, and so I would tend to get frustrated when I would be trying to wrap it and the contents would be getting everywhere,” she explains.
The food-grade adhesive, called Tastee Tape, will help keep the contents of your burrito, taco, gyro, or wrap safely secure for your mess-free enjoyment. According to Walsh and her fellow designers, chemical and biomolecular engineering students Marie Eric, Tyler Guarino, and Rachel Nie, the tape is edible, safe, and strong enough to be used during cooking and consumption.
Despite the name, Tastee Tape has no taste or texture. The tape comes in strips of a half-inch to two inches wide, affixed to sheets of wax paper. To use, simply pull it off the sheet, wet it to activate the adhesive, and stick it to whatever needs securing.
For now, the team is keeping the ingredients of the tap secret as they’re working with university officials to apply for a patent.
