Havana, September 17 (RHC) -- There is a breakthrough in food security in Latin America and the Caribbean, but much remains to bridge the gap between the haves and have-nots, said an expert in a food forum that is taking place in Havana.

During a keynote lecture at the VI Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Quality and Food Safety, Dr. José Miguel Bastías, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Science and Technology of Foods, said the problem is not food quality, but its distribution.

'A year after the deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, which was reduced by 50 percent the number of hungry people, there are still 47 million people in Latin America who are hungry, so we need to intensify these efforts,” stressed the academic from the University of Bio-Bio, Chile.

For the Chilean specialist, there is hope that the goal can be achieved by 2025, as there is a political will in many countries of the region, which was expressed in the results of the first summits held by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

The VI Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Safety and Quality of Food, scheduled from September 15th to the 22nd at Havana's International Convention Center, brings together experts in various fields such as sommeliers, bartenders, chefs, researchers, artists, filmmakers and journalists, addressing such issues multilaterally.

The event aims at facilitating the union of the fields of science and technology, food tourism and culture to examine different aspects of interest and current trends.

This meeting has associated events such as V National Congress of Food and Nutrition, and several music samples on Cuban cuisine, the mass media in the food culture and allusive plastic food (Cubalumieregourmet 2014).