For those Having Trouble Sticking with a Flexitarian Diet

The Lempert Report
March 17, 2020

Here come the... meat patch!

Strong Roots, an Irish vegetarian frozen food brand, has teamed up with an our friend Oxford professor Charles Spence to develop an adhesive patch — similar concept as a nicotine patch — that claims to help to curb cravings for bacon. 

Unlike a nicotine patch, which releases nicotine via transdermal means, the Strong Roots “meat patch” simply releases the odor of bacon after being scratched by the wearer. A next generation of scratch n’ sniff I suppose.

“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,” says Spence. “Imagine eating enough bacon and you might find yourself sated,” he added.

The scratch-and-sniff patches, which are currently in a trial phase, are aimed at folks interested in experimenting with a plant-based diet, said Samuel Dennigan, the founder of Strong Roots.  “Brits keen to adopt a vegetarian diet are about to get scientifically proven help to wean them off their love of meat,” he claims.  

The Telegraph interviewed Graham Innes, a meat-eater from England, who stated that he had no confidence in the psychology behind the idea.

“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,” he said. “If I can smell bacon I’ll want to eat bacon — it’s very simple.”