EVERY TWO years the Department of Chemistry at UWI, Mona Campus, Jamaica offers the Better Process Control School (BPCS) course to processors of low acid and acidified canned foods.
This course is offered by only two institutions outside of North America.
The UWI was the first non-US institution to be accorded certifying privileges for the BPCS (1997) by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
This represented a significant achievement for Jamaica and an important development for our food industry. It bears testimony to the productive collaboration that has long existed between the UWI and the Bureau of Standards.
BPCS instruction was first delivered in Jamaica in 1980 by the University of Maryland under the auspices of the Bureau of Standards and the Food Technology Institute. The regulatory agency was instrumental in the smooth turn over of the administrative duties to the UWI. Since 1995 responsibility
for the School has been assumed by the Department of Chemistry.
Certification in this course is essential for manufacturers seeking to export low acid or acidified canned foods such as ackee, breadfruit and callaloo to the United States.
The next course is expected to be conducted in January 2007.
- D.M.K
