- A peanut paste fortified with milk, vegetable fat, sugar, vitamins and micronutrients, Plumpy’Nut® was developed in 1996 by Nutriset and the IRD.
- It corresponds to the definition of RUTFs (Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food), recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for the home treatment of severe acute malnutrition.
- These types of supplements compensate for macro- and micronutrient deficiencies in the traditional diets of beneficiaries. They are used after the recommended period of exclusive breastfeeding (up to the age of 6 months) in addition to the child’s usual food (breast milk and diversified diet).
- During the food crisis in Niger in 2005, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) treated over 60,000 children with Plumpy’Nut®, with a recovery rate of more than 90% in the space of a few months, demonstrating the effectiveness of RUTFs on a large scale.
- Today, these supplements have won the support of the main players involved in tackling malnutrition and are used worldwide by United Nations agencies such as UNICEF and the WFP.
http://www.nutriset.fr/en/innovation/plumpynut-cmam-example.html