PSA: New Food Emoji Are Coming [Updated]

Jörg Carstensen/picture alliance/Getty Images
By  Marnie Shure

Update, September 30, 2020: Exciting news for those who can't wait to text their friends some grilled flatbread: according to Emojipedia, the 117 new emoji approved at the beginning of this year are only a few weeks out from hitting your iPhones. The latest iOS beta was released to developers yesterday, meaning that the update is not only on track to be delivered "by the end of 2020" as promised, but probably a good deal sooner than that. Which is a relief, because leading up to Election Day, the fondue emoji could become a useful shorthand for "I'd rather submerge my head in boiling cheese than endure one more minute of this."

Original post, January 30, 2020: Note to self: Spend much more time perusing the Emojipedia blog. The venerable publication has released a full list of the emoji that will join the compendium in 2020 and be available for use later this year on all platforms, per Unicode. The 117 new icons include a wide variety of images ranging from useful to unsettling, including a set of human lungs, an adorable seal cradling its own belly, a cockroach (how dare?), and... a rock.

But we must turn to the food imagery that's been added, because for too long has Unicode's pantry stood nearly bare, devoid of the staples that could make a proper emoji meal. The latest update includes:

  • Blueberries
  • Olive (green, delicious)
  • Bell pepper (green, egregious)
  • Flatbread
  • Tamale
  • Fondue
  • Teapot
  • Bubble tea
  • Mouse trap (technically this counts, as there's a teeny wedge of cheese on it)
  • Potted plant (hey, it could be edible herbs)
  • Toothbrush (postprandial)

    • It's a far cry from our list of ideal food emoji, particularly our highly recommended Starving Face, but these are looking pretty good. I look forward to texting my loved ones pictures of blueberries all summer instead of tugging on their sleeves, begging them to head to Michigan for a weekend of picking. The only unforgivable choice was to select a green bell pepper, of all things, but there's a silver lining here: that can replace "vomiting face" as the new emoji for things that are just plain gross.

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