This summer, I found myself on a tour of Israeli industries, courtesy of the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute. Israel (population 7.5 million) is tiny—if the Middle East was the size of a football field, Israel would be the size of a pack of matches. Since about 60% of Israel is desert, picture eight matches on that field, and you have the idea. Yet, the Western-oriented country’s devotion to pushing beyond the boundaries of technology is evident at every turn. It’s been the world leader in medical, computer and other science for two decades—flash drives, the modern cell phone, pill cameras, 3-D copiers, radiation-free mammograms, VOIP, Skype…the list is endless. And, the fields of foods, beverages, ingredients and nutraceuticals are no exception to the restless ingenuity on tap in this ancient—yet ultra-modern—land.
Israel was fortunate enough to have its ducks in a row a few years ago when China, after becoming a food and supplement ingredients leader, fatally dropped the food safety ball. Israeli facilities in China operate according to already high Israeli standards, including strict kosher supervision. This “answering to a higher authority” (to borrow Hebrew National’s slogan) is a boon to purity, so ingredients such as soy proteins, fiber, citric acid, sweeteners, starches, etc. from Israeli companies and facilities at home and in the Far East could jump into the gaps when other China-based sources were being shunned or shut down.