Wikipedia Wednesday: Plumpy'nut

Wikipedia Wednesday is the first feature I'm trying out. Every Wednesday I will post a link to an interesting, quirky, or funny Wikipedia article, along with either a bit of analysis, or a snide remark ... ideally both.

This week's article: Plumpy'nut

Plumpy'nut is a peanut-based food for use in famine relief which was formulated in 1999 by André Briend, aFrench Paediatric Nutritionist.

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The Plumpy'nut product is a high protein and high energy peanut-based paste in a foil wrapper. It tastes slightly sweeter than peanut butter. It is categorized by the WHO as a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food(RUTF).

Plumpy’nut requires no water preparation or refrigeration and has a 2 year shelf life making it easy to deploy in difficult conditions to treat severe acute malnutrition. It is distributed under medical supervision, predominantly to parents of malnourished children where the nutritional status of the children has been assessed by a doctor or a nutritionist. The product was inspired by the popular Nutella spread.^[1] It is manufactured by Nutriset, a French company based in Normandy Rouen for use by humanitarian organisations for food aid distribution. The ingredients are: peanut paste, vegetable oil, powdered milk, powdered sugar, vitamins, and minerals, combined in a foil pouch. Each 92g pack provides 500 kcal or 2.1 MJ.^[2]

Plumpy'nut contains vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E, and K, and minerals calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, zinc, copper, iron, iodine, sodium, and selenium.

Am I the only one who's really curious how this tastes? Since my wife is allergic to peanuts I will not be able to try it out, but maybe someone out there knows. I imagine it's basically the same as peanut butter.

In any case, I think it's pretty cool that products like this exist. Everyone assumes that malnutrition is easily treatable with ... well, food, but it's apparently a bit more complicated than that.

It helps with rapid weight gain, which can make the difference between life and death for a young child. The product is also easy for children to eat since they can feed themselves the soft paste. The fortified peanut butter–like paste contains a balance of fats, carbohydrates and proteins (macronutrients), and vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). Peanuts contain mono-unsaturated fats, which are easy to digest. They are also very high in calories, which means that a child will get a lot of energy from just small amounts, important because malnutrition shrinks the stomach.

Yeah ... apparently your ability to eat lots of food is impaired when the exact thing you need is ... lots of food. In other words, you can't cure malnutrition just by pigging out on whatever food happens to be there. Screw you, malnutrition!

Oh, and how could I end this post without commenting on the name! Plumpy'nut! Geez! That word suggests either "sports team mascot" or "bizarre sexual practice" to me.