Food safety - that's our focus!
published: Thursday | November 24, 2005

Donna A Minott-Kates, Contributor

TRADITIONALLY, JAMAICAN meals are prepared from raw ingredients in homes, restaurants and cook shops. The cooks have a basic understanding of the foods they use and their properties and are thus able to produce tasty dishes to satisfy the palate.

However, manufacturers of processed foods have to delve beyond this level of understanding in order to provide a variety of foods that is safe, nutritious and that appeals to the consumer in terms of appearance, flavour and taste. They must not only understand the nature of foods and the factors that cause their deterioration but they should be able to apply several processing techniques to safely extend the shelf life of foods. Typically, the manufacture of food is supervised by persons trained in the area of food science and technology. Here at the University of the West Indies, the Department of Chemistry has been producing graduates to meet this demand.

Food Chemistry courses have been offered at the UWI since 1982. Initially only one course was taught but over the years the number of courses has increased so that today the Department of Chemistry mounts a major in Food Chemistry to undergraduate students as part of the Bachelor of Science programme. All of this must be credited to the foresight of Professor Emeritus Dr Kenneth Magnus who initiated the food programme.