NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Agilent Technologies and Universiti Putra Malaysia announced on Wednesday a collaboration directed at improving the authentication and safety of halal food.
Agilent will provide its 6490 Triple Quadrupole Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry systems as well as competency training to the university's Halal Products Research Institute. Through the collaboration HPRI will "drive research into the development of methods for porcine-gelation screening and amino acids profiling, including adulteration analysis and confirmation," Agilent and the school said in a statement.
Financial and other terms of the deal, the first of its kind for Agilent in the South Asia Pacific region, were not disclosed.
Halal is a term designating that goods or actions comply with Islamic laws, and any food considered halal can be used and eaten by Muslims. Citing statistics from the World Halal Forum, the partners said that the halal food market is estimated at $662 billion annually, or almost 17 percent of the global food industry.
Previously, Agilent and the Malaysian government reached an agreement during the summer of 2010 to develop and promote biotechnology in that country with a focus on developing halal testing standards in pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals.