A mother and daughter die after ingesting substance still without defining

The food loss in Cuba and its acquisition in a market without security guarantees for human consumption has caused frequent poisoning in groups of people with danger to their lives.

This weekend the death of the 25 -year -old Doraima García Moroña, and her daughter of five, Nashlyn Salet Hernández García, in Guanabaco, Havana, for poisoning after consuming, allegedly consuming food cooked with nitro salt.

In this regard, the Provincial Health Directorate reported that it was impossible to save both “due to the seriousness of its status, which, presumably, was caused by having ingested food whose cooking was used nitro salt, thinking that it was common salt” .

“Nitro salt is not harmful to the human being in portions below 7 and 10 grams. It is impossible for a person to season a food to eat and used more than 10 grams because it is such salty flavor that it is inadmissible in the palate, ”he said in conversation with Martí News, the Cuban doctor settled in Colombia, Miguel Ángel Ruano, President of the Free Cuban Medical Guild.

According to the recognized charcutero Benavidez, the recommended amount is approximately ½ gram of nitro salt for each kilo of meat.

«What seems to be is that it is a salt contaminated with sodium fluoride, a substance known in Cuba and in different places in Latin America such as 1080 and that if, in small doses, it is toxic to the human being until it leads to death,» Ruano said.

Nitro salt is the common name of potassium nitrate; A chemical compound used as a conservative food agent, mainly sausages, but only its consumption in large quantities can cause poisoning and even death.

In social networks, the debate has shot over the dose to consume nitro salt to be lethal.

Cuban police authorities investigate the presumable relationship of the chemist sold with the death of the two people.

Three other members of the same family, who present symptoms of poisoning, are being treated in hospital institutions, explains the official statement.

According to one of the surviving relatives, the product that apparently caused poisoning would have been bought by him on Compostela Street in Old Havana «thinking that it was common salt.»

The sale of salt on the island has been behaving unstablely for several months, getting to scarce in some locations. The official press warns that the salineras do not have load transport to transfer the valuable seasoning to the distribution centers to reach homes for the ration book.

The one of the rationed market does not reach, while in virtual stores it can cost five dollars the pound.

«It is unfortunate that acts of this type occur due to the serious risks that are run by obtaining food products, medications even, in a market where there is no due control and due quality certification,» said our writing Dr. Eduardo Cardet, From Velasco, Holguín.

He pointed out that “the shortage of properly certified products in the chain of formal markets in Cuba is what drives and forces the people to buy products in irregular markets, and that is where the probability that the introduction of toxic or not suitable products for the human consumption occurs. ”

There is also no food security in the products sold by the State. The constant complaints of the population about milk in poor condition, sugar with pieces of metal, and rice with gorgjos are some of the complaints about the poor quality of the foods that are sold not always exempt from biological risk such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and pesticides

In Cuba, for a product of the national food industry to reach the consumer, the health registration certificate issued by the National Institute of Epidemiology and Environment (INHEM) must receive before.

In addition, Decree-Law No. 9 of food safety, and its regulations, Decree No. 18, stipulates that food containing harmful substances cannot be sold; are made up of foreign, decomposed or contaminated materials; are adulterated; They are not labeled; They are produced, storage or transport in unhealthy conditions; or that your expiration date has expired.

Therefore, it would include sanctions to those who commit food fraud, as in the case of the replacement of normal salt with nitro salt.

But, cases of food poisoning have happened with some frequency in the country, although in most cases, without fatal results: the Cuban authorities have said that they have associated with meats and chopped sauce, as well as to foods they use The raw egg in its preparation, such as meringues and mainly homemade mayonnaise.