The representative of the World Food Program (WFP), Étienne Labande, stated in Havana that despite the challenges in developing a national food fortification strategy, Cuba’s strength lies in its capacity.
The WFP representative in Cuba opened the sessions of the Symposium on Innovation for the Sustainability of the Food Industry (SISIA 2025) with the presentation “Innovation and Alliances for Scaling Up Sustainable Solutions in the Cuban Food Industry: Towards a National Strategy for Food Fortification.”
Labande stated in his address that since the end of 2023, the World Food Program has resumed facilitating and providing technical support to the Cuban government to implement this initiative.
Among its priorities are acquiring viable options for mass-consumption foods, strengthening the technological capabilities of national industrial production, and supporting a regulatory framework that provides legal backing for national food fortification, among other actions.
Key government sectors such as the Food Industry, Agriculture, and Public Health are participating in the project.
Among the expected long-term results are the improvement of the food basket with the incorporation of fortified foods, the improvement of the quality of diets and consumption practices of vulnerable groups through the use of fortified foods by social protection institutions.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, Labande emphasized that Cuba has a very strong scientific community with extensive knowledge, and also has the infrastructure and technology to carry out food fortification. Therefore, the only remaining challenge is to find a way to ensure the process is sustainable over time.
Regarding recommendations for the Cuban state to achieve this goal, Labande pointed out the need to revive practices previously used in the Caribbean nation, including foods like baby food, which were once no longer fortified, as well as wheat, which can also undergo the aforementioned fortification process when milled into flour.
Similarly, there are specific nutritional supplements for population groups such as children and the elderly that can be produced domestically with these characteristics, added the WFP expert.
The SISIA 2025 symposium is dedicated to the centennial of the birth of the leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro, to be celebrated in 2026, said the Director General of the Institute of Research for the Food Industry (IIIA), engineer Jesús Rodríguez Mendoza, at the event’s opening.
The event, themed “Sustainable Food Innovation,” is organized by the IIIA, a leading institution in innovation and development for Cuba’s food industry.
Among its achievements, the IIIA stands out in the development of foods for older adults and pregnant women, fruit and vegetable juices for children, reduced sugar products, and the provision of technical, teaching, and scientific services.
[ SOURCE: PRENSA LATINA ]
