Citadel spread facts for kids
Citadel Spread is a special kind of paste that's a bit like peanut butter. It's made from peanut butter, oil, sugar, and milk powder. It was first created as a handy food for hikers to take on their trips. It's similar to other ready-to-use foods, like Plumpy'nut, which are often used to help people get healthy.
What's Inside and Why It's Great
One cool thing about Citadel Spread is that it uses powdered milk but has no water. This makes it hard for tiny germs (bacteria) to grow, so it stays fresh for a long time! It also gives you all the good stuff from milk, like important nutrients.
Citadel Spread packs a lot of energy (calories) into a small amount. This means you get a lot of fuel for your body without carrying something heavy or bulky.
Another great part is that it's not expensive to make, store, or send out to different places. Because it's easy to use and store, foods like Citadel Spread are very practical. They are often called "ready-to-use foods."
How Citadel Spread Started
Back in the 1960s, a man named Frank Delfino worked at a Skippy peanut butter factory in Alameda. He remembered the factory making a special fortified food. This food was like peanut butter but had extra vitamins and minerals. Skippy even suggested working with the US government to use this product to help children get enough nutrients, but the idea wasn't used at that time.
Later, in 1971, Edward B. Garvey wrote a book called Appalachian Hiker: Adventure of a Lifetime. By 1997, when he published The New Appalachian Trail (Appalachian Hiker), a version of Citadel Spread made with vegetable oil (instead of bacon grease) had become a popular food for hikers in the USA.
How It Helps People
Special foods like Citadel Spread are called "ready-to-use therapeutic foods." They are made to help treat serious malnutrition, which is when someone doesn't get enough food or the right nutrients.
These foods help people gain weight quickly. They also give you many essential nutrients your body needs. Kids can easily eat this soft paste from a small, tear-open package, which means they can feed themselves.
This fortified peanut butter-like paste has fats, carbohydrates, and proteins (these are called macronutrients). It also contains vitamins and minerals (these are called micronutrients). Peanut butter itself is full of energy and a great source of vitamin E, B vitamins, dietary fiber, and many dietary minerals.
