Food processing and packaging industries are also important.
Mr Sheridan said there were at least 3,000 gangmasters operating in the agricultural, shellfish, food processing and packaging sectors, employing up to 100,000 workers.
Given the uncertainty about the risks of consuming new nano products, many analysts expect near-term investment to focus on novel food processing and packaging technology.
Last year, Gerber Products, a unit of Novartis, started aseptically processing and packaging its high-acid baby foods in plastic tublike containers instead of glass jars.
Mr. Green set out to address such issues by dealing directly with small growers and by keeping the processing and packaging of chocolate within Grenada.
Industries are predominantly rural in nature and include food processing and packaging, manufacture of pulp and paper, sawmilling, and vehicle repair.
Robbins & Myers Inc., a maker of pumps, said yesterday that it planned to buy the pharmaceutical, health care and cosmetics processing and packaging concern, Romaco N.V., for $113 million to $118 million.
While grain and livestock farmers are being asked to watch for suspicious activity, government officials and security experts say they believe the most serious threats are to processing and packaging facilities, the tail end of the food chain.
— Patrick Farrell Smithsonian: It's easy to blame the obese for obesity, but some researchers are increasingly blaming "obesogens," fat-cell-enhancing chemicals employed by giant food producers in treating crops and processing and packaging food.
The Gangmasters Licensing Authority, which regulates the supply of workers to the agricultural and fresh-produce industries, including food processing and packaging, said: "The use of migrant workers is certainly not new or unusual in our sector".
The cost of raw materials accounts for a small portion of the cost of most consumer goods, as labor, processing and packaging tend to make up a larger share of the price at the cash register.
