Gary Gnirss

In 1991 I joined BFB Consultants. Previously I had worked for the Federal government of Canada, (Consumer and Corporate Affairs Canada), in London (Ontario) and Toronto in a regulatory affairs position. The position involved both domestic and imported foods. I also had the opportunity to train new employees and liaise with interagency groups and other governments.

My background however was in microbiology and biotechnology. I earned my degree at the University of Guelph. The emphasis of my studies were food and industrial related, which just happens to compliment well with food law.

From 1993 to 1997 I served on the Board of Directors for the Toronto section of the Canadian Institute of Food Science & Technology. From 1998 until present I act as the Chair for Government & Regulatory Affairs subject interest group of CIFST.

In January 1996 I cofounded the company Legal Suites Inc., and serve as its President. The idea in those days of providing new, innovative and knowledge based regulatory solutions to industry to make the management of compliance easier was novel. Today we are delivering on the ideas that inspired the creation of Legal Suites Inc.

I have also had the opportunity to serve as an advisor to Advertising Standards Canada, which is the organization responsible for the clearance of all radio and television food and alcohol ads. I have also been writing the Regulatory Column in Food in Canada since 1997, (one of Canada’s largest food publications / http://www.foodincanada.com). I welcome the opportunity to host conferences or present informative or continuing education seminars and workshops. More recently I have been working in cooperation with the Guelph Food Technology Centre in presenting workshops on Canadian regulatory issues such as nutrition labelling, basic labelling and ingredient labelling. In 2005 a US labelling workshop was introduced at the GFTC along with a US labeling guide and comprehensive reference CD.

Peri Bulcan

I, like Gary, was employed by the Government of Canada, Consumer and Corporate Affairs, as a Food Specialist in 1989.  I am sincerely grateful for my experiences within the government offices, as a Food Specialist, because I gained such a wide variety of knowledge.  We dealt with so many different types of foods, and the labelling issues around them, but mainly from an enforcement angle.  It takes a special kind of person to enforce the rules, regulations governing food labelling and advertising.  I grew restless and must admit I did not fit the government mould.  And so it appears my character favoured a more entrepreneurial avenue to express my abilities and achieve my goals.  So I launched into the business of helping clients with their food and general consumer goods labelling and advertising efforts; there was a huge void there, and I just happened to have the expertise to jump right in and get the work done.  So Bulcan Foodbev Consultants Inc. was born.  That was in 1990.  Wow, it seems like yesterday.

So for almost twenty years I have been involved in the food industry and have passed on my knowledge and understanding of these rules and regulations ever since.  It has been dynamic, nothing is ever the same in this field.  With Bulcan Foodbev Consultants Inc. (BFB Consultants) we do the hands on regulatory food labelling consulting.  We have built a substantial client base over the years. It takes a lot of hard work and attention to details to meet our clients’ needs.

Several years back, Gary and I dived into Legal Suites Inc. because we envisioned a future where information technology could be more user-friendly.  So Legal Suites Inc. is there to help customers get comfortable working with regulations, and have confidence in the information they are using to achieve their goals.  In-class training sessions may be the old-fashioned way of helping our customers, but they are a very rewarding and satisfying means to educating our customers.  My next goal is to make our class-room programs more accessible to the globe.  So watch for webinar training sessions for the Food Suite® Compliance Series.

A few other things about me that you might like to know is that I am a mother of two brilliant and very talented children.  I was rewarded with the Woman of the Year Award 1999, Women in Food Industry Management.  I have organized the CIFST National Regulatory Workshop (1996).  I served on the Board of Directors of Women in Food Industry Management.