Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division

Established in 1958, the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Division (FSPID) undertakes the Government’s programme of surveillance and regulation of the food industry. Under the Food Storage and Prevention of Infestation Act (1958), Regulations (1973) and Amendments (2019), the FSPID's core mandate surrounds the safety and wholesomeness of all food (including feed) entering commerce in Jamaica. The FSPID also supports food businesses by mitigating commodity loss.

The organisation achieves its mandate by conducting regulatory inspection of food at ports of entry (including cargo ships) and any food storage, manufacturing and retailing facility, to ensure that food is safe and that food areas are suitable for food storage. Sampling and laboratory analyses are also conducted as necessary.

FSPID inspectors are authorized to enter any place where food is kept for sale, stored or manufactured and inspect, examine, sample for laboratory analysis, tag, seize, detain and, when determined to be necessary, dispose of food.

Additionally, FSPID inspectors may give directions to mitigate or prevent infestation and contamination in food areas. The FSPID also conducts disinfestation services via fumigation, spraying, misting, fogging, insect baiting and rodent baiting.

The FSPID laboratories, namely Entomology, Rodent Biology and Control, Microbiology, and Pesticide Residue/Mycotoxin, conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses of food for insects; insect fragments; extraneous matter; rodent contamination and species identification; microbial contamination; pesticide residues and mycotoxins.

The FSPID also boasts a Postharvest Technology Unit, whose main objective is to reduce postharvest loss of perishable agricultural commodities entering commerce, and a Training and Information Unit (TIU) to provide training and information to the food industry and other stakeholders in integrated pest management; pesticide usage; and food storage, handling and transportation. The TIU also conducts training and certification of pest control operators (e.g. in fumigation).

In April 2019, the FSPID’s Inspectorate and Disinfestation Unit (IDU) became the first and only inspection body in Jamaica to be accredited to the widely-recognized ISO/IEC 17020:2012 standard. Accreditation to this standard demonstrates that the IDU is conducting inspections of food/feed in premises, shipping containers and on cargo ships according to internationally-accepted criteria.

The FSPID's main office is located in Papine, St. Andrew with a Western Regional Office in Montego Bay.