Great news, Halal and Kosher eaters: Reuters, via Kazakhstan's Megapolis weekly, reports that Kazakh scientists have invented a kind of stick that can determine the presence of pork in any dish!
"When you get your beef patty, cut off a couple of small pieces and drop them in a glass of water. Stir, shake, put the test stick in ... In a minute or two you will see the result," the newspaper suggests.
The stick, which "changes color as in a pregnancy test," uses anti-bodies that react with a pig's muscle tissue in exactly the same way a real pregnancy test reacts with chemicals in a mother's urine. (The scientists apparently even went to Moscow to test and assemble the pork detector at existing pregnancy test plants.) So in case you don't trust your first response...
All joking aside, however, the Kazakh scientists may have hit it big, given that trusting food labels and menu descriptions in Kazakhstan may not always be a good idea: since pork is cheaper, chefs often use it to augment Halal dishes without warning. And one can easily see the test being used around the world by Muslims who are traveling or want to double-check their food for any other reason.
So: good luck, Kazakh National Center for Biotechnology scientists! Maybe you can make a stick that detects peanuts and shrimp and other allergens while you're at it?
