As a national university that has special attention to halal products, Universitas Brawijaya has a historical background in guaranteeing halal products in Indonesia so far. Starting from the research initiation of a professor of food in UB, Prof. Dr. Ir. Tri Susanto in 1988 who revealed the presence of gelatin, shortening lecithin and lard in food products, so at that time it was the moment the of the birth of Indonesian halal certification. Until now, UB has been following up on studies on halal products starting through Thoyyib Halal Science Center to educate the public through holding seminars, workshops, conferences to international cooperation.
The 1st Asia Halal Summit 2023 is an international activity initiated by UB Life Science Center Institute (LSIH) together with Shimadzu Corporation Japan. This event is a joint commitment in developing halal ecosystem that focuses on halal identification process methods, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology. Dave Chua as Executive Officer and Senior General Manager of Shimadzu Singapore revealed that there are three categories of halal analysis approaches which currently do not only refer to food health (food safety) but more to food safety and protection (food security), namely halalan, toyyiban and ethics testing.
For example, Shimadzu takes a scientific approach by analyzing various food and processed product ingredients that are not specifically permitted using DNA fragment detection on the PCR-MultiNA platform to help detect porcine and authenticate animal meat. In addition, Shimadzu also analyzes other components such as alcohol and pesticides in the food matrix. “As part of this collaboration, we are helping the certification program (ISO-17025 certified halal testing lab) with UB campus through various innovation and latest technology development supports so that later we can meet halal industry standards around the world,” he said.
UB Rector, Prof. Widodo Ssi, MSc, PhD, Med.Sc added that the 1st Asia Halal Summit 2023 conference is an opportunity for Muslim scholars, scholars, researchers, academics and practitioners to jointly drive the halal ecosystem in almost all industrial sectors, reminding that many goods and food products are consumed at this time through various complex production processes. However, on the other hand, aspects of consideration are needed in ensuring the production of goods or food so that they can be verified as halal, building guarantees and providing products according to the point of view of Islamic law. This event also introduced products related to halal research center on UB campus such as honey processing machines, honey powder and dealcoholization machines produced by PT. Brawijaya Smart Industry, to Halalcare PCR kit and PCR Mobile Lab made by UB Halal Research Team in collaboration with PT. Biocare Sejahtera. [Humas UB/ Trans. Iir]
