Japan Invents The World’s First Edible Face Mask, And It Has Even Passed Testing

By Mikelle Leow, 10 Jun 2021

Image via The Labo

The past year or so has seen a rise in mask design, including biodegradable face coverings that vanish into the earth. These new ones, brought to you by an experimental lab in Japan, disappear into your mouth.

The new bun out of the oven is the ‘Mask Pan’ (Bread Mask), touted as the first face mask in the world that you can eat. That’s because the front of this supposed protective gear is an actual melon pan (melon bread) roll, promising a sweet snack and fragrance for when you’re feeling peckish.

For context, melon bread doesn’t contain fruit. It is believed to have gotten its name from the melon-like criss-cross sugar cookie layer at the top of the bun.

Goku no Kimochi The Labo teamed up with Tokyo-based melon bread chain Melon de Melon to create quality bread-based masks. And don’t worry about them not being breathable—although suffocation by sweets might sound like a relatively great way to go—the edible face coverings are described as “3D” due to their hollowed-out middle.

It also appears that the Mask Pan isn’t just a half-baked solution. According to the experimental lab, the garment passed product performance tests by Unitika Garmentec Research Institute, an institute that specializes in mask evaluations. It was found that the bread mask performed similarly, if not better, than commercially available face coverings during a “splash prevention performance visualization test,” thanks to the “high-density fibers” in these carbs.

At ¥1,800 (US$16) for a pack of five, the Mask Pan comes at a premium price in comparison with the regular disposable mask. The other caveat is that it gets stale fast, but your snacking tendencies will thank you for this.