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A patch infused with the scent of bacon has been developed by a scientist with the aim of helping people who choose to adopt a plant-based diet curb their meat cravings.
The device was created by Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Oxford.
Spence, who specialises in sensory perception and the way in which the mind is connected to our senses of taste and smell, collaborated with plant-based food company Strong Roots to create the patch.
When a person who is wearing the patch scratches it, it produces a smell similar to that of cooked bacon.
Professor Spence explained that this may help those who wish to refrain from eating meat to “imagine” that they are eating bacon, which should supposedly sate their appetite.
“Studies have shown that scent can reduce food cravings,” said the author of Gastrophysics: The New Science of Eating.
“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.”
This week, the patches are being trialled in Reading, Leeds and Liverpool.
Strong Roots stated that the company hopes the product will become more widely-available to consumers in the future.
The patch is being promoted by former Love Island contestant and boxer Tommy Fury, who said on his Instagram Story: “I’ve been hearing a lot about Veganuary, and I really wanted to try it. One of my new year’s resolutions was to cut back on meat.”
While some may think the product is innovative, described by Strong Roots founder Samuel Dennigan as “the world’s first ever meat patch”, others have expressed their cynicism.
1/13 Miley Cyrus
The pop singer is a passionate animal rights advocate, telling Vanity Fair in 2019 that her diet also reflects her fashion choices: "I’m challenging the system more than ever. Choosing to live as a sustainable vegan activist means wearing more vintage (less waste; loving pieces for longer), playing with the newest eco-materials and technology, and making custom vegan pieces with some of my favorite designers."
Getty
2/13 Alicia Silverstone
The Clueless star went vegan shortly after wrapping the hit 1990s film and has been a passionate campaigner for animal rights since. Speaking in a video for Compassionate Meals in 2017, she said: "Knowing the truth about where our food comes from is just so disturbing to me. Once you see it, there’s no way to go back from that for me."
Getty
3/13 Simon Cowell
The music mogul revealed in a recent interview with The Sun that he decided to give up animal products earlier this year "on a whim", adding that he feels much better as a result.
Getty
4/13 Venus Williams
"I started for health reasons," Williams told Health in 2019. "I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and I wanted to maintain my performance on the court. Once I started I fell in love with the concept of fueling your body in the best way possible. Not only does it help me on the court, but I feel like I’m doing the right thing for me."
Getty
5/13 Natalie Portman
The American-Israeli actor decided to go vegan eight years ago after learning more about the environmental consequences of eating animal products. Speaking at an Environmental Media Awards benefit, 2017, she said: "Factory farming is responsible for most of the air, water, and land pollution - that disproportionately affects our poor communities as well. So we get to make decisions three times a day, what we do with our planet, and you can make a difference by even once a day or once a week choosing not to eat animals or animal products."
AFP/Getty
6/13 Beyoncé
While she chooses to refer to herself as plant-based as opposed to vegan, the 'Halo' singer underwent a 22-day vegan challenge with husband Jay-Z in 2013 and is believed to have maintained the diet ever since. Writing in the foreword of The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World by Marco Borges, the couple say: "We used to think of health as a diet – some worked for us, some didn’t. Once we looked at health as the truth, instead of a diet, it became a mission for us to share that truth and lifestyle with as many people as possible."
Getty/Coachella
7/13 David Haye
The British boxer extolled the virtues of veganism in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2016: "A lot of the meat that people eat has been genetically modified, or if it hasn’t then the food the animal’s been fed has been. That’s tough for a human being to process, so cutting it out made me feel immediately better and stronger than ever."
Getty
8/13 Ariana Grande
The 'Dangerous Woman' singer announced she was going vegan in November 2018. Speaking to The Daily Mirror in a recent interview, she explained: "A lot of the meat that people eat has been genetically modified, or if it hasn’t then the food the animal’s been fed has been. That’s tough for a human being to process, so cutting it out made me feel immediately better and stronger than ever."
AFP/Getty
9/13 Ellie Goulding
The British singer has been toying with veganism for a while, having been a vegetarian for seven years. Speaking to The Cut in 2018, she revealed that she will "never eat fish or meat again" and eats a predominantly vegan diet.
Getty
10/13 Mike Tyson
The former heavyweight boxing champion revealed he had become vegan in 2010. "I wish I was born this way," he told Fox News in 2011. "When you find out about the processed stuff you have been eating. I wonder why I was crazy all those years."
Getty
11/13 Jessica Chastain
The Zero Dark Thirty star decided to go vegan roughly 13 years ago because of low energy. Speaking to W Magazine in 2017, she clarified: "being vegan was not anything I ever wanted to be. I just really was listening to what my body was telling me."
Getty
12/13 Rooney Mara
Mara has been vegan for eight years, telling Harper's Bazaar in 2018 "it’s better for your health and the environment.”
Getty
13/13 Kim Kardashian
Reality star Kim Kardashian West revealed that she has started eating a plant-based diet on Instagram in April 2019. Sharing two photographs of vegan dishes on her Instagram story, the 38-year-old wrote: “I am eating all plant-based when I am at home.”
Getty
1/13 Miley Cyrus
The pop singer is a passionate animal rights advocate, telling Vanity Fair in 2019 that her diet also reflects her fashion choices: "I’m challenging the system more than ever. Choosing to live as a sustainable vegan activist means wearing more vintage (less waste; loving pieces for longer), playing with the newest eco-materials and technology, and making custom vegan pieces with some of my favorite designers."
Getty
2/13 Alicia Silverstone
The Clueless star went vegan shortly after wrapping the hit 1990s film and has been a passionate campaigner for animal rights since. Speaking in a video for Compassionate Meals in 2017, she said: "Knowing the truth about where our food comes from is just so disturbing to me. Once you see it, there’s no way to go back from that for me."
Getty
3/13 Simon Cowell
The music mogul revealed in a recent interview with The Sun that he decided to give up animal products earlier this year "on a whim", adding that he feels much better as a result.
Getty
4/13 Venus Williams
"I started for health reasons," Williams told Health in 2019. "I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, and I wanted to maintain my performance on the court. Once I started I fell in love with the concept of fueling your body in the best way possible. Not only does it help me on the court, but I feel like I’m doing the right thing for me."
Getty
5/13 Natalie Portman
The American-Israeli actor decided to go vegan eight years ago after learning more about the environmental consequences of eating animal products. Speaking at an Environmental Media Awards benefit, 2017, she said: "Factory farming is responsible for most of the air, water, and land pollution - that disproportionately affects our poor communities as well. So we get to make decisions three times a day, what we do with our planet, and you can make a difference by even once a day or once a week choosing not to eat animals or animal products."
AFP/Getty
6/13 Beyoncé
While she chooses to refer to herself as plant-based as opposed to vegan, the 'Halo' singer underwent a 22-day vegan challenge with husband Jay-Z in 2013 and is believed to have maintained the diet ever since. Writing in the foreword of The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World by Marco Borges, the couple say: "We used to think of health as a diet – some worked for us, some didn’t. Once we looked at health as the truth, instead of a diet, it became a mission for us to share that truth and lifestyle with as many people as possible."
Getty/Coachella
7/13 David Haye
The British boxer extolled the virtues of veganism in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2016: "A lot of the meat that people eat has been genetically modified, or if it hasn’t then the food the animal’s been fed has been. That’s tough for a human being to process, so cutting it out made me feel immediately better and stronger than ever."
Getty
8/13 Ariana Grande
The 'Dangerous Woman' singer announced she was going vegan in November 2018. Speaking to The Daily Mirror in a recent interview, she explained: "A lot of the meat that people eat has been genetically modified, or if it hasn’t then the food the animal’s been fed has been. That’s tough for a human being to process, so cutting it out made me feel immediately better and stronger than ever."
AFP/Getty
9/13 Ellie Goulding
The British singer has been toying with veganism for a while, having been a vegetarian for seven years. Speaking to The Cut in 2018, she revealed that she will "never eat fish or meat again" and eats a predominantly vegan diet.
Getty
10/13 Mike Tyson
The former heavyweight boxing champion revealed he had become vegan in 2010. "I wish I was born this way," he told Fox News in 2011. "When you find out about the processed stuff you have been eating. I wonder why I was crazy all those years."
Getty
11/13 Jessica Chastain
The Zero Dark Thirty star decided to go vegan roughly 13 years ago because of low energy. Speaking to W Magazine in 2017, she clarified: "being vegan was not anything I ever wanted to be. I just really was listening to what my body was telling me."
Getty
12/13 Rooney Mara
Mara has been vegan for eight years, telling Harper's Bazaar in 2018 "it’s better for your health and the environment.”
Getty
13/13 Kim Kardashian
Reality star Kim Kardashian West revealed that she has started eating a plant-based diet on Instagram in April 2019. Sharing two photographs of vegan dishes on her Instagram story, the 38-year-old wrote: “I am eating all plant-based when I am at home.”
Getty
“This surely can’t be an actual thing,” one person tweeted.
“April Fool’s Day has come early this year?” another remarked.
Over the past few years, the vegan market has become saturated with new products, with an increasing number of food manufacturers jumping on the plant-based bandwagon.
It was recently reported that Leon’s vegan burgers have become more popular than its meat versions, while earlier this month restaurant Wagamama announced it was to start serving “vegan tuna” made from watermelon.
However, not all vegan food launches have been smooth-sailing.
Earlier this year, KFC launched its new vegan Quorn “chicken” burger.
Shortly afterwards, several customers complained that they had been served the meat version in error.
A KFC spokesperson issued an apology with regards to the wrong orders, stating: “We’re only human.”
“We’re really pleased so many fans have come in to try the vegan burger this week, that said, we know there’s been a handful of instances where we’ve made mistakes… it’s not great and we’re really sorry that’s happened,” the spokesperson told The Independent.