Wood pulp to make edible noodles?

Cellulose-based pulp may be the building block of paper and packaging, but what about a food ingredient? Thanks to the efforts of Japanese cloth-making company Omikenshi Co., paper pulp can now be made into an edible noodle that’s rich in fiber, low in calories and carbohydrates, and free of gluten and fat, Bloomberg has reported.

Using the same technique for turning pulp into rayon, Omikenshi mixes dissolving pulp with a plant called konjac to produce a type of flour that can be used to make ramen, pasta and dumplings. Compared to 1,669 calories per pound of wheat, Omikenshi’s pulp-konjac wheat only has 27 calories, Gizmodo reported on 18 Nov. While this noodle may not have foodies salivating, “demand for diet food is strong and looks promising,” according to Takashi Asami, a manager at Omikenshi.

Source: Friday Offcuts