BP Healthcare steps up food testing ops

Malaysia's leading healthcare provider BP Healthcare Group is stepping
up its food diagnostics operations to meet the demand of consumers for
safe food and regulatory reforms in tandem with the growing awareness
and market for food testing at home and abroad.

BP Food Testing
Sdn Bhd (BPFT), which is under BP Healthcare Group of Companies, is
already building a strong portfolio of clients that includes both
domestic and multinational companies involved in food and beverage,
palm oil, water dialysis and a range of other industries.

"This
is another growth area for the Group. Since we started food testing
services in 2005, we have enjoyed double-digit growth and the trend has
developed significantly especially in the past few years. In the first
quarter of this year alone, we achieved 70 per cent growth," said BP
Healthcare Deputy Chairman Chevy Beh who is also the group's finance
and investment director.

In recent months, it attracted a whole
new group of customers from the bird's nest industry as producers and
exporters sought internationally-recognised verification of nitrite
levels in their products for the domestic and export market.

BPFT
is ISO 17025-certified and is accredited with the Malaysia's Department
of Veterinary Services (DVS) as well as the Food Safety and Quality
Division of the Health Minister.

"We have invested in a full
range of resources to conduct microbiological tests on a comprehensive
range of food, water, air sampling and also food chemical testing which
covers nutrition analysis, preservatives and antibiotics screening as
well as to detect the presence of toxic heavy metals," Beh added.

BPFT
upgraded its laboratories six months ago with RM3 million worth of the
state-of-the-art equipment including the acquisition of instruments
which can detect heavy metals until parts per trillion levels.

In
expanding its business, BPFT has a huge advantage by leveraging on the
over 80 BP Healthcare outlets nationwide as pick-up points to collect
test products from customers and a sophisticated IT-based tracking
system which allows customers to check the status of the tests and
results .

"Customers are provided with special login IDs to keep
track of the progress of the test and the results are also delivered
online. We are the first to have this. The results can be obtained
within a day or up to a week depending on the complexity of the tests,"
Beh explained.

All sample products are sent for analysis to
either of BPFT's two testingc centres, one in Jalan New Ferry in
Butterworth, Penang, and the other in SS15 in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

Beh said small and medium enterprises were welcome to contact BPFT to discuss special packages for tests on their products.

"We are very competitive on the pricing side because we have economies of scale," he added.

BPFT has a staff of 150 and it is headed by Beh's younger brother, Joevy Beh, as the firm's director.

About
BP HealthCare Group BP Healthcare Group ([You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] is a
prominent integrated healthcare provider in Malaysia with over 20
subsidiaries with core strengths in diagnostic, laboratory and medical
technologies. As a comprehensive healthcare leader, BP Healthcare
remains relentless in its pursuit of healthcare services of the highest
quality for its customers and is committed to continue to strive
towards innovative technological advancement in the medical and
clinical arena. -- Bernama