Expert predicts the main causes of death will be foodborne diseases
SANTO DOMINGO.- It is expected that "in the next 20 to 30 years the main causes of death will be caused by foodborne diseases, with greater emphasis on those produced by microorganisms resistant to antimicrobials," as stated by assured the teacher and researcher of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC), Luis Maroto, by participating in the Second Symposium on Food Safety, organized by the university.
When exposing on the topic "Challenges of food safety, beyond the norms: microbial resistance", the also expert in food safety issues highlighted that these diseases affect one in ten people each year and cause the loss of 33 million years of healthy life.
For the treatment of these diseases in the country, Maroto considered as a key point to face the biological risks from the investigation. In the same way, he insisted on the importance of the involvement of the State in the implementation of measures to educate the productive sector of the country. “The biggest challenge in the Dominican Republic in terms of safety is education,” he said.
The Second Food Safety Symposium was organized by the Basic and Environmental Sciences Area (INTEC) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology (MESCYT), with the aim of promoting the generation of knowledge and the application of innovative solutions in the field of food safety and quality. It was attended by representatives of companies in the productive sector, as well as state institutions.
The activity began with the conference "Food safety, the basis for healthy nutrition”, delivered by the doctor and teacher at INTEC, Gaudy Vidal Santana. During his speech, he stated that one in three people suffers from some sign of malnutrition, so access to food suitable for consumption must be considered part of his human rights. "We talk about safe food, but there are populations that first need to have access to that guaranteed food, so that we can then talk about safety."
The program continued with the theme of international safety standards, in charge of Erin Crowley, chief scientific officer at Q Laboratories, who presented emerging trends in microbiology and the role of standards development in providing solutions.
Miguel Henríquez, specialist in Food Safety and Quality Management and professor at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra (PUCMM), presented the national food quality and sanitation standards, among which he highlighted the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system, related to the production of safe food. Among the corrective measures, he cited the ISO 22000 standard, based on Safety Management.
The activity concluded with the presentation of research posters carried out by students from INTEC, PUCMM and the Pedro Henríquez Ureña National University (UNPHU) on food safety issues. The work exhibition was held on the first floor of the INTEC health sciences building.
Among the topics of the students' research are the isolation of pathogenic bacteria to man in vegetables grown in Constanza and Ocoa; Microbiome of pork and poultry meat in the Dominican Republic; Quality and food safety in fishery products (pelagic fishing) from areas of the Caribbean Sea of the country and the microbiological profile of food prepared in street stalls in Santiago in the period of January-March 2023.