BU has been concerned for some time about the quality of food we import. The import bill is reported to be approaching one billion dollars. Escalating use of preservatives and hormones by so-called respectable manufacturers has legitimize many products we eat. The most educated among us are too ignorant to question the quality of food on supermarket shelves in Barbados. While we have focused on the shady behaviour of Monsanto, the world’s largest supplier of genetically modified foods, the question we need to have answered is whether local and regional suppliers have been engaging in unwholesome manufacturing practices.
Robert’s Manufacturing controls the animal feed market in Barbados which makes it an obvious target. Can the management of Roberts Manufacturing confirm if its animal feed were to be tested would it be found free of unacceptable levels of growth hormones and antibiotics?
Barbadians are big chicken eaters, and we have been assured in the past by Chickmont Foods that it does not feed its chickens hormones or antibiotics, a practice to speed growth. What if the feed being fed to the chickens is infected with hormones and antibiotics? Does Roberts Manufacturing supply Chickmont Foods with feed?
It is no secret Barbados is a country struggling to manage non communicable diseases. A burgeoning health budget is proof we have been fighting a losing battle. Perhaps the embattled Minister of Health Donville Inniss can find out on behalf of the public he serves whether Roberts Manufacturing is supplying animal feed to to the Barbados market which contains unacceptable levels of hormones and antibiotics.
An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
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