Tel Aviv (AFP)

Ilan Samish dips a potato chip into ketchup, drinks a sip of soda and sips a spoonful of yoghurt - three sweet foods with a protein he has developed.

This finely trimmed bearded scientist has forsaken his academic career to found a company called Amai - Kisses in Japanese - which aims to solve one of the biggest health problems: sugar addiction.

For this, he adapted a protein to the high temperatures used in the food industry and fermented it with yeast. As a result, a non-GMO protein, made up of 20 amino acids, can be used to sweeten food and drinks and replace or reduce the carbohydrate content.

In 2016, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 40% of the global adult population was overweight, partly because of excess sugar. Diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer: the consequences are many and reduce life expectancy.

"I found a technology that can help solve the biggest problem of humanity" by "treating" food rather than the diseases that result, "boasted Mr. Samish Monday at the FoodTechIL conference organized in Tel Aviv by the Strauss Group, one of the largest agribusiness companies in Israel.

Distribution of natural sugar, food supplements, agricultural innovations, in the field of water and food security: dozens of specialized start-ups have tried to whet the appetite of 1,500 visitors for innovation.

- The "Food tech" nation -

Nicknamed "start-up nation" after having made a place in the sector of new technologies, Israel has gone in recent years to conquer the "Food Tech", the technology of food.

"The whole world is following Israel because there is no other place with so many food technology companies," says Ilan Samish, whose company was the first "Food tech" company to win the Pitch, more big start-up contest from Israel.

The country has about 500 companies in agri-food innovation, according to Eugene Kandel, former president of Israel's national economic council and leader of the NGO Start-Up Nation Central. A specificity according to him to a solid experience in agronomy and data management.

"Israeli innovation has mutated," according to Kandel, for whom the reduction of threats to Israel's security has allowed industries to experiment in other areas such as agriculture, food or health .

"The next trend is not high tech but food tech," says Samish, who hopes to see his product manufactured in large quantities and sold via agribusiness giants within two years.

High-profile guests in Tel-Aviv included global chocolate and biscuit giant Mondelez International, which includes LU, Milka tablets and Toblerone among its brands.

"We need to work in partnership with Israeli entrepreneurs to reduce sugar" and "provide the nutrients consumers want," said Gil Horsky, director of innovation for the group.

"Everyone now understands that things need to change" in the way the industry produces, packs, sells and takes care of its waste, says Ofra Strauss, president of the eponymous group behind the event.

Scientific advances have uncovered new proteins and fibers that can be used in products, she says.

In the past, "we only knew how to sell", without worrying about health consequences, but "now it's clear that we have a responsibility," says Strauss.

© 2019 AFP