Plumpy'nut facts for kids
.jpg)
Plumpy'Nut, a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF)
|
|
| Nutritional value per 92 g | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 2,100 kJ (500 kcal) |
|
45 g
|
|
|
30.3 g
|
|
|
Protein
|
12.8 g
|
| Other constituents | Quantity |
| Ingredients | peanut paste, vegetable oil, powdered milk, powdered sugar, vitamins, minerals |
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults. Source: Nutriset, France |
|
Plumpy'Nut is a special peanut-based paste. It comes in a plastic wrapper. This paste helps treat a serious health problem called malnutrition. Malnutrition means someone isn't getting enough of the right foods to stay healthy.
Plumpy'Nut is made by a French company called Nutriset. Each packet is about 92-gram (3+1⁄4 oz) (about 3.2 ounces). Using this paste means fewer people need to go to the hospital for treatment. It can be given at home, which helps more children get better.
Sometimes, Plumpy'Nut is called a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). Other RUTFs exist, like BP100.
Nutriset has faced some criticism. This was from an organization called Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). They were concerned about Nutriset protecting its patents for Plumpy'Nut. However, the patents for Plumpy'Nut ended in the US, UK, and the European Union in 2017 and 2018.
Contents
How Plumpy'Nut Helps Children
Plumpy'Nut is used to treat children who are very malnourished in emergencies. It helps them gain weight quickly. This can stop them from getting sicker or even dying. The paste is easy for children to eat. It comes in a strong, easy-to-open package.
What's Inside Plumpy'Nut?
This special peanut butter-like paste has many important things for health. It contains fats, dietary fiber, carbohydrates, and proteins. These are called macronutrients. It also has vitamins and minerals, which are called micronutrients. Peanuts themselves are rich in vitamin E and niacin (a B vitamin).
Easy to Use and Store
Plumpy'Nut can be stored for two years. It does not need water, cooking, or a refrigerator. Because it's so easy to use, it has made treating malnutrition during famines much better. In the past, severe malnutrition often meant staying in a hospital. Children would be given special milk. But Plumpy'Nut can be given at home. It also gives more calories and essential nutrients than older treatments like F100. This helps children get healthy and stay healthy.
Global Recognition
The United Nations saw how useful Plumpy'Nut was. In 2007, they said that many children with severe malnutrition could be treated at home. They would not need to go to a hospital or feeding center. UNICEF and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department used this idea in Niger in 2007. They used Plumpy'Nut to help with a malnutrition emergency there. Plumpy'Nut fits the UN's definition of a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
Important Notes on Use
Plumpy'Nut is not for everyday eating. It is also not for malnutrition that happens outside of famine situations. Some people worry about peanut allergies. However, allergic reactions have not been a problem in the areas where Plumpy'Nut is used.
What Plumpy'Nut is Made Of
The ingredients in Plumpy'Nut include "peanut-based paste, with sugar, vegetable oil and skimmed milk powder." It is also "enriched with vitamins and minerals." People often say it tastes "surprisingly tasty."
How Plumpy'Nut is Made
Most Plumpy'Nut was made in France in 2010. But this special food can also be made locally. It can be produced in places where peanuts grow. Workers mix peanut paste with other ingredients provided by Nutriset.
Many partner companies now make Plumpy'Nut. This includes two non-profit groups in the U.S.: Edesia Nutrition in Rhode Island and Mana in Georgia. There are also factories in six African countries: Niger, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Sudan, Madagascar, and Kenya. Plus, there's one in Haiti and another in India.
Getting Plumpy'Nut from the factory to the people who need it is a big job. It involves a complex supply chain. This means many steps and different groups working together. Information about what is needed and where it needs to go must flow smoothly. If there are problems with this information, it can slow things down.
In 2010, a full two-month treatment for one child cost about US$60.
The Story of Plumpy'Nut
.jpg)
Plumpy'Nut was created in 1996. It was inspired by the popular spread called Nutella. The inventors were André Briend, a French child nutritionist, and Michel Lescanne, a food engineer.
Nutella is made of sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, and milk powder. Plumpy'Nut is different. It combines peanut paste, vegetable oil, and milk powder. It also has sugar, vitamins, and minerals, but no chocolate.
Patents and Helping People
Nutriset has held patents in many countries for making nut-based nutritional pastes. A patent gives a company the right to be the only one to make or sell a product for a certain time. Nutriset used these patents to stop other companies from making similar products without their permission.
However, in at least 27 African nations, non-profit groups (like NGOs) can make the paste without paying a fee.
In 2010, two non-profit groups in the U.S. tried to make Plumpy'Nut without paying Nutriset. They said that "some children are dying because Nutriset prevents other companies from producing a food which could save their lives." They argued that Nutriset's patent was unfair. But Nutriset won the case.
Some people compared this situation to how some medicine companies work. They suggested that Plumpy'Nut should be made more widely available.
Médecins Sans Frontières criticized Nutriset. They said Nutriset was being too strict with its patents. They felt this was wrong for a product that helps people in need. A study for UNICEF suggested that it would be better to have many different companies making RUTF products. This would help meet global needs better.
In response to the criticism, Nutriset has allowed companies and NGOs in some African countries to make the paste without paying fees.
As mentioned, the Plumpy'Nut patents in the USA ended in 2017. The patents in the UK and the European Union ended in 2018.
More to Explore
- Citadel spread
- Famine relief
- Humanitarian daily ration
- List of peanut dishes
- Mantecol
- Nutribun
