Nutritional Enhancement of US Title II Food Aid Products

Abstract

The findings of this research led to the following broad areas of improvement in US Title II food aid products: 1) Improve the formulation of existing FBF products used in Title II programming. This includes the addition of a dairy source of protein to products targeted to children 6 to 24 months of age, pregnant and lactating women, wasted children, and wasted individuals undergoing HIV/AIDS treatment. 2) Upgrade the vitamin and mineral mixes used and diversify approaches to addressing micronutrient needs. Enhance the composition of premixes used to fortify blended foods as well as milled grains and vegetable oil; facilitate shipping offortificant premix with bulk cereals for in-country fortification; and develop micronutrient powders (sachets) and other point-of-use fortification options. 3) Develop or adopt non-cereal-based (e.g., lipid-based) products for the management of nutritional deficiencies. This is an argument for more choice among appropriate tools, not for discarding products that have already shown their value over many years. It also does not reduce the need to maintain a focus on supplying high volumes of quality grains as the main staple in food aid baskets.

Is the Inclusion of Animal Source Foods in Fortified Blended Foods Justified?

“…To include WPC80 at 3% by weight of CSB would provide 2.4 g of animal protein, accounting for 13% of the total recommended 18 g of protein [4]. The isocaloric trials included in this review that provided sufficient data for calculation used ASF protein doses from 46.5% to 100% [26,27,28,29,30].…”

“…The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) commissioned a team to analyze current FBF and provide recommendations for improvement [4]. The resulting Food Aid Quality Review (FAQR) recommendations included the addition of 3 g of whey protein concentrate with 80% protein content (WPC80) per 100 g dry FBF [2].…”

Reasons for raising the maximum acceptable daily intake of EDTA and the benefits for iron fortification of foods for children 6–24 months of age

“…The current maximum ADI of EDTA (JECFA 1974;JECFA 2007) allows a maximum daily dosage of 2-2.5 mg day −1 of iron as iron EDTA for infants and young children (Yang et al 2011), whereas experts advocate that this amount should be two to four times higher (Rosenberg et al 2011). An amount four times higher would meet the recommended iron intake for under-fives (De Pee et al 2011), but because of high bioavailability, a daily intake of 5 mg iron as iron EDTA may provide enough additional iron.…”

“…), whereas experts advocate that this amount should be two to four times higher (Rosenberg et al . ). An amount four times higher would meet the recommended iron intake for under‐fives (De Pee et al .…”

Making Food Aid Fit-for-Purpose in the 21st Century: A Review of Recent Initiatives Improving the Nutritional Quality of Foods Used in Emergency and Development Programming

“…9 In 2009, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)'s Office of Food for Peace (FFP)-the US body responsible for most food aid programming-commissioned an independent assessment of product formulations in 2009. [10][11][12] The focus was on all foods destined to support programming that has some form of nutrition goal, whether in emergency or nonemergency contexts. The resulting food aid quality review (FAQR) involved a process of consultation with experts worldwide to (1) determine the state of science regarding nutritional needs of beneficiary populations across the developing world; (2) recommend how best to reformulate existing products based on prevailing science and food technology norms; and (3) identify what new products could be used to meet defined nutritional and health needs.…”