Tailor-made training to help China following melamine in milk tragedy

Agilent Technologies has stepped in to help China following melamine being found in milk and milk products in China, which led to the tragic death and hospitalization of children. The company has created a tailor-made four-day training programme that will cover melamine-testing methods. It will be offered in Agilent training centres and customer sites in China.

"Agilent has been actively delivering supplies, instrumentation and expertise where needed to assist with this food safety crisis," said Mu Yiping, country manager, Life Sciences and Chemical Analysis, Greater China. "Our melamine training programme addresses an urgent need that will assist China's laboratories with testing processes using the most technologically advanced instruments and supplies. Building on the analytical method development Agilent created for last year's melamine outbreak in pet food, we have been able to quickly build a comprehensive testing programme for milk and milk products."

The methods will use new, specialized sample preparation components on GC–MS, LC and LC–MS–MS instruments. In the early days of the crisis Agilent provided core melamine testing products with sample preparation materials being most in demand. Sample preparation uses a solid-phase extraction method where contaminants are isolated from food samples prior to analysis. Agilent scientists worked closely with Chinese chemists to develop the sample preparation method needed to separate melamine from dairy products.

The programme is part of Agilent University, a multi-faceted education programme for Agilent customers in China. More information is available at www.agilent.com/chem/university

For specifics on melamine testing visit www.agilent.com/chem/melamine