Ann-Marie King (right), Divisional Head of Agri-business at the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Co-operation, in talks with Attorney-at-Law, Susan Sealy (second from right), of the Genesis Law Chambers, which hosted the BFLI conference; Dr. Cheryl Rock (second from left), Assistant Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the California State University, USA and Dr. Shannon Coleman, Assistant Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the Iowa State University, USA.

Ann-Marie King (right), Divisional Head of Agri-business at the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Co-operation, in talks with Attorney-at-Law, Susan Sealy (second from right), of the Genesis Law Chambers, which hosted the BFLI conference; Dr. Cheryl Rock (second from left), Assistant Professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the California State University, USA and Dr. Shannon Coleman, Assistant Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the Iowa State University, USA.

BADMC happy to facilitate non-sugar agri-business

The Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Co-operation (BADMC) is striving to facilitate and promote non-sugar agri-business in Barbados.

This is according to Ann-Marie King, Divisional Head of Agri-business at the Barbados Agricultural Development and Marketing Co-operation. It is with this objective in mind,  King said, that the BADMC was willing to be the main sponsor of the second annual Barbados Food Law and Industry Conference, held recently at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Conference Centre.

“On behalf of the BADMC, it gave us great pleasure to accept the invitation to sponsor the Barbados Food Law and Industry Conference 2016.

“Of course, our mission is to facilitate non-sugar agri-business in Barbados in a sustainable way, and that requires that we facilitate access to timely and current information on the current legislation and regulatory frameworks governing how food is sourced, how food is produced, how it is marketed and how it is distributed, not only here in Barbados, but across the globe. So a conference like this permits us to do just that,” King asserted.

Meanwhile, co-ordinator of the Product Development Competition at the conference, Dr. Cheryl Rock, an Assistant Professor of Food Science at the California State University in the USA, stressed the need for those who have businesses in the agricultural sector, to pay attention to the regulatory frameworks and laws governing food, and to also pay special attention to the ingredients placed in foods, to ensure no harm comes to consumers. This is one way of ensuring that their businesses are sustainable and remain viable.

“Often times, when consumers eat food, they just see food as food, but as food scientists, we also look at how ingredients are regulated, to ensure the safety of the general consuming public, because some companies, especially in dire economic times, they tend to add ingredients that are not regulated or are not considered safe ingredients, just to make profit or gain. So that can cause unintended consequences for consumers, who can actually be harmed,” Rock noted.

Pointing to a recent case where it was alleged that some manufactures were erasing the expiration dates on food labels and then replacing them with new dates, Rock suggested such activity is unacceptable, as ingredients can disintegrate past their expiry date and cause harm to consumers.

She also pointed to an international case involving China, which saw infant formula, as well as other food materials and components, being tainted with a substance called melamine, which caused death and injury to numerous babies and pets.

“So as you can see, it is important to have regulations that do regulate the ingredients, so we can protect consumers and public health,” Rock asserted. (RSM)

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