By Abigail Klein Leichman - April 24, 2019
Avner Avidan watched in horror as a TV news exposé revealed the alarming amount of invisible pesticide residues on supermarket fruits and vegetables. According to World Health Organization estimates, a variety of food contaminants sickened one of every 10 people during 2018.
“There is something wrong with this picture,” says Avidan, an Israeli who is passionate about plant-based eating and fitness.
“For me, the understanding that I can still cause significant damage to my body with these contaminants even if I try to be healthy and most of my diet is comprised of fruit, vegetables and soy, was shocking. I thought it required a different solution.”
Hoping to develop an accurate handheld device for shoppers to check produce for pesticide residue, Avidan put in six months of research and concluded this couldn’t yet be done reliably on the consumer level.
But he did discover that on a larger scale, food manufacturers, farmers and retailers were seeking faster, cheaper, and more reliable solutions to comply with government regulations requiring that their products do not exceed maximum residue limits (MRLs) for chemical contaminants including pesticides.
Read More: Israel21c