Chocolate Inhaler

Right now this "chocolate inhaler" has my vote for Dumbest Idea of the Year. "Le Whif" was developed by a Harvard professor as, I think, a diet aid. The premise is simple: a user with one of the inhalers breathes in a chocolate flavored powder, which, according to the inventor David Edwards helps users control their chocolate cravings, and satisfies them at the same time. Edwards is quick to reassure potential users (whiffers??) that the chocolate flavored powder is not fine enough to enter the lungs, but tastes great. And, he says, it's 0 calories.

I note that the article, while it describes the inhaler as available in four flavors, chocolate, raspberry, mint, mango, doesn't provide any details on what the powder actually is. Which, you know, sorta gives me pause. And I also wonder, given Professor David Edwards unsubstantiated assertion that

It seemed to us that eating was tending toward breathing, so, with a mix of culinary art and aerosol science, we've helped move eating habits to their logical conclusion.

We call it whiffing.

I'm sorry. This sounds very much like "too good to be true," as in the promises of a new drug that it's not addictive and it's really good . . . But wait. There's more. Edwards adds:

Two Michelin-starred chef Thierry Marx is even working with us to develop meals, such as a mint-flavoured inhaler to go alongside his lamb dishes.

Eventually we could be having three course meals this way.

Why on Earth would we want to do that? I like food. I like carefully prepared good food. I like cooking good food, and yes, I like chocolate. I like the taste and the scent and the chemical effects of chocolate. And no, I don't want to start "whiffing" unknown substances, even when I'm assured that the canister can be reused several times.

If you think this is too stupid to be true, I assure you, it's not. Read all about it for yourself. Honestly, I'm still hoping this is some bizarre delayed April Fool's gag.