For those who live and breathe chocolate, a puff

Biomedical engineer David Edwards has created a mini-inhaler - dubbed Le Whif - that shoots a chocolate mist into one's mouth, mimicking, he says, the experience of savoring the real thing. The price tag is about $2 for four puffs.

Edwards is known in science circles for designing a more efficient way to deliver inhaled medicines by tinkering with the particle sizes, and he has tapped that science in his lipstick-size chocolate delivery gadget. The chocolate particles are small enough to shoot out of the brightly-colored inhaler, but too large to make it to the lungs.

Not only does this delivery system remove the guilt that comes with chocolate's calories, he says, but it also moves us toward our culinary future. Evolution, he says, is trending toward smaller meals eaten more frequently - until chewing is pretty much replaced by breathing. "Breathing is eating," he says.

Adds the professor: "The whole process is very art-science. You have a culinary art and aerosol science meeting."

Of course, before dessert comes the main meal; Edwards has plans for inventing inhalable steak, carrots, and more. But for now, he is busy marketing Le Whif; a world tour is on tap.

"You can carry it in your pocket, you get the taste of chocolate, and your hands are clean and you put it back," Edwards says.

How does it taste? Think inhaled cocoa powder. Based on a personal test, the candy bar doesn't appear to be in danger.

Frank Terranova, a Johnson & Wales University culinary instructor who hasn't caught a "whiff" yet, is skeptical.

"I don't think you can call it a cuisine," he said. "I think you can call it a gimmick."

Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com.