It would appear that a 99-year-old cloth-making company in Japan is looking to enter the food business in an unusual way. Instead of only churning out towels and bedding, it’ll start using fiber from trees to cook up a gluten-free, slurp-able snack.
Source: A Textile Company Is Making Low-Calorie Noodles From Trees
So they’re making shirataki noodles with some added rayon…
Shirataki noodles are already popular in Japan and Korea (the US has the NoOodle brand). They stink like high heaven, and really need to be rinsed thoroughly to get rid of the worst of the stank/bitterness. Another reason they haven’t caught on well in the US is that they have a somewhat slimy/tough texture. Asian cultures are more open to those slimy, cartilaginous textures (think jellyfish) while most Americans find it off putting.
If the addition of rayon can fix the smell, taste and odor issues, it might take off here. Otherwise, it’s just a modification of an already popular noodle in Asia.