I was sitting at Saladworks having lunch with my eighty-year-old mother, Janice Marshall. Until her stroke two years earlier Jan had always been sharp and effervescent. But now she is discovering one of the realities of aging is to have your freedoms stripped away. She can’t play tennis. She can no longer drive. She needs a walker just to get around. She is not allowed to eat many of her favorite foods.
Right now Jan is fighting her fork in a losing battle to eat her chicken Caesar salad. Frustrated, she ends up eating with her fingers, just the way my kids ate their first birthday cakes.
This moment was the inspiration for an eating utensil called Jan-Stix. Jan-Stix would be so easy to use that seniors would prefer them to traditional eating utensils. Occupational therapists could use Jan-Stix in their patients’ road to recovery. And Jan-Stix would be so versatile they could be used at home for many everyday dishes.
Sometimes mother is the necessity of invention.
Jan-Stix are chopsticks for the 21st century. They are the first ergonomically-designed chopsticks. They are free-standing, so no separate chopsticks rest is required, and they take up less table space than a wine goblet.
You can use either hand—one size fits all. Jan-Stix can be held over a dozen different ways—whatever is comfortable for the user. Unlike chopsticks, Jan-Stix are intuitively easy to use. Diners master their use in seconds.
Jan-Stix are made from a dishwasher-safe, FDA-approved thermoplastic. The "orange-peel" textured handle fits comfortably into any sized-hand.
The pinch-proof hinge means safety first. Just a gentle squeeze is all that’s required.
The stainless steel spring allows the stalks to return to the open position for the next bite.
Raised nubs hold even the most slippery foods.
Jan-Stix allow you to pluck a selected morsel, or scoop up small vegetables, noodles, or rice.
Jan-Stix are available in four tasteful colors.
The elegant lines of Jan-Stix will complement any decor...
... from contemporary...
...to traditional.
Seniors who may have trouble eating with conventional utensils are no longer limited to "finger food." Jan-Stix allow them to once again dine with dignity.
Upscale Asian restaurants can use Jan-Stix to distinguish themselves from their more pedestrian competition, and to make their cuisine more accessible to Western diners who may struggle with traditional chopsticks.
Jan-Stix are so easy to use that they can be used in the home for non-Asian meals as well, such as stews, salads, shellfish, sliced fruit, and many Mediterranean dishes.
In China alone over 20 million trees are felled each year to produce some 57 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks. This corresponds to over 100 football fields of forestland per day! Each Jan-Stix can replace over 3,000 disposable chopsticks.
Chopsticks have been around for over 4,000 years. Just as the abacus has given way to the handheld computer, and the rickshaw to the automobile, chopsticks have evolved to Jan-Stix, the chopsticks for the 21st century. (Patents pending.)
