We've all been there - a hankering for a burrito resulting in acute hangriness after the majority of the filling ends up on the floor rather than in your stomach.
As I write this, I'm picking at the sad remnants of a cheese and tomato wrap that quite literally fell apart at the seams, much like I do after the most minor inconvenience.
But foodies, prepare to be wrapped: bungled burritos and foozled fillings could soon be a thing of the past, with a team of US engineering students cooking up an ingenious solution to the common snafus.
Inspired by their own experiences with unravelled tortillas, the chemical and biomolecular engineering students invented a clear, edible tape to keep your salsa and shredded lettuce well-swaddled.
Called 'Tastee Tape', the adhesive is made with "food-grade fibrous scaffold" and an "organic adhesive", according to the team of students, who currently attend John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.
To create the tape, the engineers tested a multitude of ingredients and various combinations before settling on the final recipe, which has the "tensile strength you can trust to hold together a fat burrito".
"First, we learned about the science around tape and different adhesives, and then we worked to find edible counterparts," said Tyler Guarino, who teamed up with fellow engineering seniors Marie Eric, Rachel Nie and Erin Walsh on the project, according to John Hopkins.
After months of prototyping, the final product was devised: a rectangular strip measuring half-an-inch by two inches, affixed to sheets of waxed paper.
To use the tape, you simply remove a strip from the sheet, wet it thoroughly to activate it, and apply it to your lunch, dinner or snack of choice.
As the students are in the process of applying for a patent, they have refused to disclose their top-secret formula.
"What I can say is that all its ingredients are safe to consume, are food grade, and are common food and dietary additives," Guarino added.
"Tastee Tape allows you to put full faith in your tortilla and enjoy your meal, mess-free."
The Tastee Tape was showcased earlier this month as part of Johns Hopkins' Engineering Design Day, an annual event in which the university's engineering students show off their creative solutions to real-world challenges.
Alongside the edible adhesive, other inventions included a solar-powered mosquito trap and a computational approach to subway travel.
