> Subcommissions Support - Latin America

Report Latin-American Subcommission (LAS) November, 2006

2005 Report available in pdf

This report was presented by Dr. Bernadette Franco.

The Latin American Subcommission (LAS) of ICMSF was formed in 1969, with the mission of promoting the ICMSF’s activities among food microbiologists in Latin America. The Latin American Subcommission has ten members, including honorary members, from seven countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Uruguay
and Venezuela). The founders of LAS-ICMSF are Honorary Members.

Annual Meeting: The Latin-American Subcommission held a meeting on June 07, at University Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil. Participants included all active members of the ICMSF LAS plus Martin Cole (USA) and Jeff Farber (Canada), from ICMSF. Mike van Schothorst (Switzerland), former member and consultant of ICMSF, was also present. The purpose of the meeting was to strengthen the ties between the Subcommission members and the Board of ICMSF. During the meeting, Maria Alina
Ratto, from Peru, presented a review on the history of the sub-commission, since its foundation in 1969. This review was followed by a technical discussion about the next Latin American Congress of Food Microbiology and Hygiene (10th COLMIC) to be held in Isla Margarita, Venezuela, in May 2007, organized by Pilar Hernandez. The scientific programme, guest speakers, awards, sponsorships, and financial issues were discussed. Other aspects related to activities of the Subcommission, such as book translations, other publications, website, new members, and participation in Codex Alimentarius meetings were also debated. The main output of the technical discussion was that the Subcommission agreed to meet at least once every year, as follows: 2007: Venezuela (during 10th COLMIC); 2008: Brazil and
2009: Uruguay (during 11th COLMIC).

Mike van Schothorst, Martin Cole and Jeff Farber taught an 8h updating short course on MRA. The audience
comprised the members of the Latin-American Subcommission and M.Sc. and Ph.D.
students in Food Science at University of Sao Paulo.