Halal laboratory to open in Davao City

DAVAO CITY, Feb. 29- A new testing laboratory for Halal products will open in Davao City this year.

To be housed at the Department of Science and Technology – XI office near the Southern Philippines Medical Center the Halal Testing Laboratory can provide chemical and DNA testing on Halal export products.

DOST-XI Regional Director Anthony Sales said that the equipment in the laboratory costs about P47-million with the building costing around P2-million.

The project is born out of the Memorandum of Agreement signed by the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) and the DOST with the latter providing scientific and technical support to NCMF on the testing of Halal products.

Apart from Davao, five more testing centers is expected to be put up, one in DOST Region XII, while others to be set up in the Autonomous Region of Moslem Mindanao (ARMM), CALABARZON, and Zamboanga. The funding for these Halal testing laboratories will come from the General Appropriations Act.

Sales said that they will be having a Muslim chemist assigned to the laboratory as to erase doubts in the veracity of the results.

“It is only through testing that you can see pork components in products. The laboratory through DNA or chemical analysis can determine the presence of pork fat, pork meat or gelatin in the products to be tested. Aside from pork it can also pick out ingredients which are Haram (prohibited).

Sales said the facilities can provide scientific and evidence based testing of Halal products comparable to other countries. He said the services will be made available to halal food exporters. (PIA/RG Alama)