150: How can natural ingredients support immune health?

<div>Health and wellbeing has become central to many of our lives with health-conscious consumers demanding natural products made with pure and simple ingredients. Immune health has garnered particular attention owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and the desire for people to choose functional foods that help support their immune system.<br> <br> The Caribbean has historically been a tropical haven for a range of plant-based or natural ingredients. It’s therefore no surprise that the region is seeing a surge in demand for these natural products. With increased demand, the question of sustainability becomes of paramount importance, not only in terms of preserving the quality and potency of the product during production, but also ensuring farmers and local communities are not compromised or marginalised but in fact benefit from the surge in demand.<br> <br> In this podcast we hear from academics, food and drink industry experts and Caribbean exporters on the functional benefits of seamoss, more commonly known as Irish moss, turmeric, moringa, ginger and other natural products including gluten free flours and tropical fruit pulps and spices on what the Caribbean is doing to ensure sustainable practices and how indigenous communities are supported in meeting this growing trend for immune health.<br> <br> <strong>About our panel<br> </strong><br> <strong>Natasha Edwin- Walcott, Senior Advisor, Competitiveness and Export Promotion Caribbean Export Development Agency<br> </strong><br> Natasha is a Trade Advisor with over 12 years’ experience in multilateral and regional trade policy. She is the Senior Advisor, Competitiveness and Export Promotion at Caribbean Export Development Agency where her role involves assisting SMEs to become more competitive, become export ready and take their products to market. She has worked at the OECS Trade Mission in Geneva Switzerland, advocating and defending OECS Member State interests before the World Trade Organisation, UNCTAD and other International Organisations. She is also a former emp