from Israel Times:
Between a third and half of the food grown today never makes it to market. Produce of all kinds is “lost” to spoilage and disease, due mostly to transportation, storage, and other logistics issues. As a result, hundreds of millions of people still go hungry – but they don’t have to, thanks to an invention by Israel’s Pimi Agro. By applying a formula based on hydrogen peroxide — “with a few key additions,” said Nimrod Ben-Yehuda, CTO and co-founder of Pimi – fruits and vegetables remain fresh and viable for up to 10 weeks, significantly cutting losses due to rot and deterioration during the transportation process. Technology like this, he believes, could make a major dent in world hunger. In the coming months, Pimi plans to introduce these inventions to the United Nations and other international institutions. “For places like India, China, and Africa, this is huge, especially because the transportation systems in those areas are slow and refrigeration is hard to come by,” said Ben-Yehuda. “You could walk from one end of India to the other over a period of 10 weeks, and the vegetables and fruit you carry will still be fresh for the entire time.
It sounds like a fantastic claim, but one Pimi can prove through the extensive scientific studies the company has undertaken over the past decade – studies that were persuasive enough for agricultural and food authorities around the world, including in the US, UK, Germany, Australia, China, and many other countries, to approve Pimi’s all-natural, zero-chemical method of preserving produce.
They’ve also been persuasive enough for no less than Wal-Mart and SunPacific – one the largest retailer in America, and the other the largest shipper of citrus fruit there – to conduct large-scale field tests of Pimi’s technology, with an eye towards licensing it for everyday use, said Ben-Yehuda. “We’ve been speaking to Wal-Mart about how to market produce treated with our products. They’re not necessarily organic, but they are much healthier than ordinary produce – besides having a much longer shelf life – because farmers can cut down significantly on the use of fungicides.”
Fungicides haven’t been on the radar of consumers as much as pesticides, and while organic produce marketers emphasize their use of non-chemical, environment-friendly pesticides – many based on natural ingredients known to deter bugs in specific crops – they usually don’t mention fungicides, which are applied to produce both pre- and post-harvest to prevent fungi from invading produce.
There’s a reason for that silence — most commercial fungicides, it turns out – even those certified as “organic” — are based on copper in the form of copper sulphate spray, and on chlorine. But fungicides are essential to the produce business. With much of the world’s produce shipped by truck and train – without refrigeration, in many places – fruit and vegetables are likely to succumb to rot and fungus that thrive in the hot storage conditions.
Nimrod Ben-Yehuda (Photo credit: Courtesy)
According to the Environmental Protection Agency in the US, those fungicides are safe for human consumption in limited doses. Copper is an essential element in the human body, and chlorine is used to disinfect water for human consumption – but why use them, asks Ben-Yehuda, if there is a better, more natural and organic solution? “Our formulation kills a wide range of diseases without any of those additives,” he said. “Listeria, which has been a culprit in many cases of recent food poisoning at American fast food restaurants, is killed within 60 seconds of applying our products. As a result, farmers and wholesalers can cut down on their use of fungicides.”
Pimi Agro’s secret: Its products are formulations based on 99.4% Stabilized Hydrogen Peroxide (STHP), which decomposes into oxygen and water, leaving no chemical residue. There are specific formulations for citrus, stone fruits like peaches and plums, potatoes, and onions and sweet potatoes. The trick, said Ben Yehuda, was getting that other 0.6% of the formulation right – and that took him, along with researchers at the Technion and at Hebrew University 15 years. Pimi’s technology has half a dozen worldwide patents and has been tested under rigorous conditions in the US and Europe over 150 times.
It’s the active ingredients in the additives – all natural and environmentally friendly, said Ben Yehuda – that makes the difference. “Applying just hydrogen peroxide to produce would actually promote rot. It’s our enhanced formulation that turns water and oxygen into products that can greatly extend produce shelf life.” In tests, Pimi’s solutions were found to be 15 times more effective than other preservation and disease prevention systems, with 50% more citrus and onions available for marketing after seven months in storage, without the harmful chemical residue left by the preservation systems currently in use – which are anyway less effective than Pimi’s system. The additives, categorized as edible acids, have been declared safe and organic by a host of international agencies, including the EPA and EU food safety agencies.
Besides cutting down on chemical residue and preventing disease, the Pimi solution allows farmers to use much more sustainable growing methods. By extending the life of produce, fruits and vegetables can be transported in more environmentally friendly ways – trains, for example, instead of trucks that contribute to traffic tie-ups and increase air pollution. Since there’s less loss, farmers can grow less, avoiding overplanting, and especially cutting down on the use of fertilizers (another major pollution problem), and using less irrigation water, said Ben-Yehuda.
Besides Wal-Mart and SunPacific, Pimi has begun working with other large food producers, including Pepsico, FritoLay, BASF, and others. Several products are already on the market, and customers are using Pimi products in Israel, the US, Germany, the UK, Canada, Japan, and Russia. The company plans to develop products for additional produce, including asparagus, mushrooms, and peppers, and it’s developing formulations for meat, poultry, and fish.
Although Pimi’s business prospects appear great, it’s not just about profit for Ben-Yehuda. “We see this technology as something that can really help to alleviate world hunger, and we plan to submit a report to the UN, the World Bank, and other international groups, showing how wide-scale deployment of our methods could help feed many more people,” he said. “The world – especially the developing world – loses half of what it grows to rot and disease. More produce means more food to feed hungry people, and our methods don’t require the deployment of dangerous chemicals or expensive and questionable genetic reformulations of fruits and vegetables. With our products, we believe there will be enough to go around to make a real dent in world hunger.”
Dave: Seems like a very good idea! Anything to add additional' life' to products moving in the food chain will benefit most all modes. I would say that two major hurdles would be ease of application, to produce products moving in that system, and the big hurdle: COST!
The major consideration to get it started is : "... Does it solve any problems..." Obviously,that is a positive for this treatment. and of course- COST.
Recall several years back on the rail lines out of the Powder River Coal Fields? The line was almost shut down for the coal dust that infiltrated the railroad infrastructure; that caused major problems with the traffic flow? It was predicted to cost major bucks to repair, and major headaches for the BNSF and UPRR.Not to mention the 'good will' between them, as the finger-pointing went on. The 'fixes' put forward were going to major dollars, and impact bottom lines.
We still see one coal train in this area that has its cars equipped with 'tarps', and the other was some kind of coating over the top of the load to supress the blowing dust. Not sure how that issue was resolved?
One way to keep the coal dust down, and this is an old method by the way, was to thoroughly wet down the coal before loading. The disadvantage was that wet coal would leach a mild acid that would corrode the coal cars, also the wet coal would freeze during cold weather and have to be thawed prior to unloading, but it seemed to be livable. I'm surprised Powder River coal wasn't wet prior to loading, but maybe there isn't a lot of water where it comes from.
A little-known fact: There was a fire in one of the "Titanic's" coal bunkers during the voyage due to the coal not being wet down before loading. (They were in a rush for the maiden voyage.) Static electricity from the dust ignited the pile. It wasn't a major issue, the boiler room crews were working on it so the voyage proceeded as planned. Who put out the fire, the crews or the Atlantic Ocean, depends on which book you read.
Anyway, that's great news on the food preservation discovery!
If this product performs as advertised, not only will it be practical to ship produce by rail, but the prices should drop as more of it actually survives to be shelved at markets. Of course, that will reduce the supply of raw materials for commercial composters, and thus reduce the supply of 'natural' fertilizer.
Firelock76 I'm surprised Powder River coal wasn't wet prior to loading, but maybe there isn't a lot of water where it comes from. Anyway, that's great news on the food preservation discovery!
I'm surprised Powder River coal wasn't wet prior to loading, but maybe there isn't a lot of water where it comes from.
The Powder River Basin is dry grassland, and every cup of local water is spoken for even before it falls out of the sky. If you go there during a dry spell it looks like the Plywood Prairie of model railroading fame.
Chuck (former Rapid City resident)
We just have to hope that the cure isn't worse than the problem.
Seems like I remember reading about a company that sprayed their coal with blue dye as a marketing tool ("blue coal" - you can look it up). Doing so may have also helped reduce the dust, although it was anthracite, which may not suffer quite as much from a dust problem.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I am more concerned with the spate of TV advertisments that are sure to crop up in a few years:
...In a breathy female voice:
"Have you or a loved one DIED! or experienced a hangnail after consuming food that was treated with the Hydrogen Peroxide preservative? If so, you could be ENTITLED to money damages. Contact the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe."
Semper Vaporo
Pkgs.
Semper Vaporo, all I can say about D.C. and H. is "Nyuk,nyuk,nyuk!"
But, you can always rely on the wisdom of the law firm of Solitary, Poor, Nasty, Brutish and Short.
Semper Vaporo I am more concerned with the spate of TV advertisments that are sure to crop up in a few years: ...In a breathy female voice: "Have you or a loved one DIED! or experienced a hangnail after consuming food that was treated with the Hydrogen Peroxide preservative? If so, you could be ENTITLED to money damages. Contact the law firm of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe."
S.V.
Certainly, that is a pretty good bet in light of a pleathora of sue-happy, contengency-charging, high % fee attorneys.
It would mimic the model of "New Drug"; followed closely by a howling pack of Lawyers advertising for cases, narrated by their "non-attorney" spokespersons. It would seem to be same path as we experience with the change of Seasons... Poison Ivy comes with warmer weather...and snakes chasing the latest crop of critters..
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
I read somewhere the blue on the "Blue Coal" was some kind of cheap paint or laquer. Seems like a pretty expensive proposition for a marketing ploy.
And oh yeah, those law firm ads! "If you've ever taken Feelgoodisite and have suffered insomnia, indigestion, flatulence, or death, especially DEATH, call us right now!"
As additives go hydrogen peroixide is relatively benign. Still, I'm trying to eat keeping in mind the following" "Don't eat anything with more than 5 ingredients," and, "Don't eat anything your grandmother wouldn't have eaten." Forgot who came up with those rules to live by, but they make sense to me.
Mike
Try deciphering the labels on prepared foods these days. There's everything listed but food.
Norm
How long do you think it will be before the Food and Drug Administration will approve this treatment, and how loud are the 'oppose everything' crowd going to be screaming about it and delaying implementation.
The thot plickens. Or the plot thickens, whichever you prefer...
"Stabilized Hydrogen Peroxide," the main component of of the preservative, is stabilized through the use of several other chemicals.
A couple of popular chemicals for the purpose appear to be colloidal stannate and sodium pyrophosphate.
This stuff might be great - but nothing is ever as simple as it looks. There's still an alphabet soup of chemicals involved...
tree68 The thot plickens. Or the plot thickens, whichever you prefer... "Stabilized Hydrogen Peroxide," the main component of of the preservative, is stabilized through the use of several other chemicals. A couple of popular chemicals for the purpose appear to be colloidal stannate and sodium pyrophosphate. This stuff might be great - but nothing is ever as simple as it looks. There's still an alphabet soup of chemicals involved...
Hopefully, they don't wind up in our soup.
The inventor does mention that his preservative leaves no residue whatsoever, so the chemicals would not be an issue if that is true. But there still would be pesticide residue unless the produce was organically grown.
I don’t think he intends to limit the market for his product to just organic produce. So the objective of his product is not primarily to eliminate chemical residues. His main objective is to extend freshness. But it would also have the advantage of not adding residues to organic produce. Of course the organic community would have to sign off on a process that uses chemicals even though they disappear before the product is consumed.
tree68 Seems like I remember reading about a company that sprayed their coal with blue dye as a marketing tool ("blue coal" - you can look it up). Doing so may have also helped reduce the dust, although it was anthracite, which may not suffer quite as much from a dust problem.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.