From artificial caviar to self-destructing plastic bags, Israeli technology is forging ahead with new inventions.
There is indeed something fishy about the fake caviar developed at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. It contains fish and fish oil, but not fish eggs.
The ingredients include vegetable oils, combined with stabilizers and other substances not specified.
Yet the taste is nearly identical with the real gourmet delicacy, according to Dr. Uri Kogan, head of Technion’s food engineering, department.
The only real difference is the price. While the Russian import, made from eggs of the Caspian Sea sturgeon, retails at $100 for 3.5 ounces, the Israeli facsimile will sell for about $8.
The ersatz caviar, which took three years to develop, has received a kashrut certificate from Haifa’s chief rabbi and a culinary certificate from Kinsley Clark, chef at the five-star Dan Carmel Hotel in Haifa.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Supersol supermarket chain announced this week that it will hereafter use and sell plastic bags that decompose after exposure to sunlight.
They are an improvement over biodegradable plastic products that disintegrate after contact with earth but do not break down on the hard concrete of city streets.
The bags were jointly developed and patented by an Israeli scientist, Dan Gilad of Kibbutz Hazorea, and an American, Professor Gerald Scott of the University of Iowa.
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