PARIS — Two French entrepreneurs have launched a portable device to
test for the presence of pork in food for use by Muslims who abide by
dietary laws. With France’s five million Muslims making up about 8
per cent of the overall population, the test, similar in size to a
pregnancy test, aims to help consumers detect traces of pork not just in
food, but also in cosmetics or medicines.
The kit comes with a small test tube in which a food sample
is mixed with warm water. A test strip is then inserted into the water
which delivers its verdict after a few minutes: One line means no trace
of pork; two lines means pork is present. Frenchmen Jean-Francois
Julien and Algerian-born Abderrahmane Chaoui came up with the idea at
university two years ago in the midst of a Europe-wide scandal over
mislabelled frozen meals containing horse meat instead of beef.
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| An illustration picture shows a kit to test for the presence of pork in food for use by Muslims, with small test tubes in which a food sample is mixed with warm water and test strips, at the company Capital Biotech offices in Asnieres sur Seine Oct 21, 2014. Photo: Reuters |
Mr Julien was already developing tests for people suffering from food intolerance or more serious allergies. “Abderrahmane
tells me ‘you know, food allergies and food intolerance are very
interesting of course but you should really diversify yourself in animal
proteins’,” Mr Julien said. “That’s when we got the idea to develop a
specific anti-body for porcine DNA.”
Their company, Capital
Biotech, argues no other existing test allows the end user to analyse
the content of a food product as easily and cheaply as theirs. The tests
cost €6.90 (S$11.20) per unit and are 99 per cent accurate. HalalTest
will be available for purchase online very soon, the founders said. Despite
its name, Capital Biotech says no test can tell whether a meat dish is
fully halal. As well as shunning pork, Islam dictates that animals be
slaughtered according to a strict method.
Even so, Capital Biotech
said it had received pre-orders for 10,000 testing kits within 24 hours
of the launch on Wednesday (Oct 22). French Muslims have embraced
the product. “With this test we can find out whether there really is or
isn’t any pork inside,” said halal supermarket Hal’City worker Mohamed
Hatmi. Mr Julien and Mr Abderrahmane, who have also launched an
alcohol test, have developed several other tests which could, they
believe, interest millions of food intolerance sufferers.
The
first will detect cow’s milk proteins, while another will detect traces
of gluten in food for people who have an intolerance to gluten or those
who have developed celiac disease, said Capital Biotech co-founder
Thomas Nenninger.
Sources: REUTERS
Cited From: http://www.todayonline.com/world/europe/french-entrepreneurs-launch-test-detect-pork-food
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