IMAGES: GETTY; DANI MACHLIS
TECHNION – ISRAEL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Cooking up a storm
From creating a vegan oat milk cheese to producing nutritious snacks for the elderly, students from the Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering are setting a new standard for the food industry
A bid to transform the food industry through sustainability saw three teams from Technion’s Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering win an international competition. The students participated in the EU-supported Food Solutions contest: part of EIT FOOD — a program that leverages innovation to create healthy and sustainable food for all — the annual event asks multidisciplinary teams to come up with solutions for real-world nutritional challenges. This year, participants could work to one of four briefs, including GrOAT, which tasked teams with creating a healthy and sustainable oat-based product; and FoodFE, which saw innovators design a product for the elderly, addressing the issues of loss of taste, palatability and efficiency of nutrient uptake. Once teams had formed, they spent around six
months developing their products, from ideation through to final presentation. The process involved product manufacturing at the Technion’s food Pilot Plant, under the guidance of faculty members and supervision of representatives of leading food companies. Technion’s Bioat Group won first place in the
GrOAT category for developing a vegan labneh-like cheese spread, based on fermented oat milk and dietary fiber. The entry aimed to fill a gap in the market for dairy-free products that are just as tasty as they are healthy. It succeeded: the judges commended its unique and delicious flavor, which also came in first in the crowd favorite category.
20 Israeli Academia | 2022 Meanwhile, the creation of a low-fat,
soy-based, creamy treat with a crisp cookie on top won the university’s CRACKEAT team first place in the FoodFE category. The sugar-free product, high in protein and fiber, earned the judges’ praise for its unique presentation and taste, flavor and texture. The environmentally conscious packaging was an added bonus. Last but not least, coming in third place in the
same category was another product from the faculty: Lite Delight, a brownie-like cake bar. It was praised for its soft, fluffy texture, combined with a sweet taste and no added sugar, and its use of natural ingredients. The teams’ wins follow a tradition of student
victories for the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering in similar EIT FOOD competitions. In 2018, a Technion team won first place with a spirulina-enriched falafel, while in 2020, another one snatched the top prize with a biological solution for preventing fruit juice from spoiling — an issue that costs tens of billions of dollars a year in waste produce. These successes speak to the innovative and
high-quality teaching of the faculty, the only center in the country — and one of only a few in the world — to combine the fields of biotechnology and food. Its curriculum is just as unique, providing engineers with a broad knowledge of chemistry, biology and physics, as well as environmental sciences. When they leave, graduates are equipped with the expertise to face the dynamic food innovation sector.
Since its inception in 1953, the Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering has developed a number of technologies that have been implemented in Israeli and international industries
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