Havana, Dec. 4 – The representative of the World Food Programme (WFP), Étienne Labande, stated in Havana that despite the challenges in developing a national food fortification strategy, Cuba’s strength lies in its capabilities.
The WFP representative in Cuba opened the sessions of the Symposium on Innovation for the Sustainability of the Food Industry (SISIA 2025) with the lecture “Innovation and Partnerships for Scaling Sustainable Solutions in the Cuban Food Industry: Towards a National Food Fortification Strategy.”
Labande affirmed in his speech that since the end of 2023, the World Food Programme has resumed facilitating and providing technical support to the Cuban government to implement this initiative.
Among its priorities are the acquisition of viable options for mass-consumption foods, strengthening the technological capacities of national industrial production, and supporting a regulatory framework that provides legal backing to national food fortification, among other actions.
Key government sectors participating in the project include the Food Industry, Agriculture, and Public Health.
Long-term expected outcomes include improving the food basket through the incorporation of fortified foods, advancing diet quality and consumption practices among vulnerable groups by using fortified foods distributed by social protection institutions.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, Labande emphasized that Cuba has a very strong scientific community with comprehensive knowledge. Additionally, there still exists infrastructure capable of carrying out food fortification, as well as the necessary technology. Therefore, the main challenge is to find a way to ensure the sustainability of the process over time.
Regarding recommendations for the Cuban state to achieve this goal, Labande highlighted the need to recover practices that were previously done in the Caribbean country, such as fortifying certain foods like fruit compotes for children, which were once discontinued, as well as wheat, which can be fortified when milled into flour.
Likewise, there are specific nutritional supplement products for certain population categories, such as children and the elderly, which can be produced nationally with these characteristics, added the WFP expert.
The SISIA 2025 symposium is dedicated to the centenary of the birth of the Cuban Revolution leader, Fidel Castro, to be celebrated in 2026, said Jesús Rodríguez Mendoza, General Director of the Institute of Food Industry Research (IIIA), when inaugurating the event.
The meeting, with the motto “Sustainable Food Innovation,” is organized by the IIIA, the leading institution in innovation and development of Cuba’s food industry.
Among its achievements, the IIIA highlights the development of foods for the elderly and pregnant women, fruit and vegetable juices for children, reduced-sugar products, and the provision of technical, teaching, and scientific services.
