Plumpy'nut: Difference between revisions

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'''Plumpy'Nut''' is a [[peanut]]-based paste, packaged in a plastic wrapper, for treatment of [[malnutrition|severe acute malnutrition]]. Plumpy'Nut is manufactured by [[Nutriset]], a French company.<ref name=off>{{Cite web |title=Plumpy'Nut®: Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) |publisher=Nutriset |url=http://www.nutriset.fr/en/product-range/produit-par-produit/plumpynut-ready-to-use-therapeutic-food-rutf.html |access-date=2 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930141832/http://www.nutriset.fr/en/product-range/produit-par-produit/plumpynut-ready-to-use-therapeutic-food-rutf.html |archive-date=30 September 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{cite news |first=Andrew |last=Rice |title=The Peanut Solution |work=[[The New York Times Magazine|New York Times Magazine]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/magazine/05Plumpy-t.html |date=2 September 2010 |access-date=2 September 2010}}</ref> Feeding with the {{convert|92|g|oz|frac=4|adj=on}} packets of this paste reduces the need for hospitalization. It can be administered at home, allowing more people to be treated.<ref name=off/>

Plumpy'Nut may be referred to in scientific literature as a [[Therapeutic food#Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food|Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food]] (RUTF) alongside other RUTFs such as BP100.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BP-100™ RUTF Therapeutic food |publisher=Compact for Life |url=http://www.compactforlife.com/bp-100-rutf/ |access-date=10 April 2012 |archive-date=28 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328130326/http://www.compactforlife.com/bp-100-rutf/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Nutriset has been criticized by [[Médecins Sans Frontières]] for enforcing its Plumpy'nut [[patent]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=MSF: Nutriset patent impeding access to treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition|date=13 November 2009 |url=http://www.msfaccess.org/content/msf-nutriset-patent-impeding-access-treatment-severe-acute-malnutrition|access-date=8 Nov 2015}}</ref> However, {{asofas of|2018|lc=y}}, Plumpy'nut patents have expired in the [[US]], [[UK]] and the [[European Union]].

==Use==

Plumpy'Nut is used as a treatment for emergency malnutrition cases. It supports rapid weight gain derived from broad nutrient intake which can alleviate a starving child from impending illness or death in a starving child.<ref name=AJCN/> The product is easy for children to eat because it dispenses readily from a durable, tear-open package. The fortified peanut butter-like paste contains [[vegetable oil|fats]], [[dietary fiber]], [[carbohydrate]]s, [[protein]]s (as essential [[nutrient#Types|macronutrients]]), vitamins and minerals (as essential [[micronutrient]]s). Peanut butter itself is a rich source of [[vitamin E]] (45% of the [[Daily Value]], DV, in a 100 -gram amount) and [[B vitamins]] (particularly [[Niacin (nutrient)|niacin]] at 67% DV).<ref>{{cite web|title=Nutrition facts for peanut butter, smooth style, without salt, USDA Nutrient Database SR-21 |publisher = Conde Nast|website=nutritiondata.com| url=http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/legumes-and-legume-products/4453/2|date=2014|access-date=3 May 2014}}</ref>

Plumpy'Nut has a two-year shelf- life and requires no water, preparation, or refrigeration.<ref name=off/> Its ease of use has made mass treatment of malnutrition in [[famine]] situations more efficient than in the past.<ref name=nyt/><ref name=bbc1>

{{Cite news |last=Schofield |first=Hugh |title=Legal fight over Plumpy'nut, the hunger wonder-product |publisher=BBC |date=8 April 2010 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8610427.stm |access-date=3 August 2011}}

</ref> Severe acute malnutrition has traditionally been treated with therapeutic milk and required hospitalization.<ref>{{Cite journal

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| doi = 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181bdf676

| s2cid = 36176436

| doi-access = free

}}</ref> Unlike milk, Plumpy'Nut can be administered at home and without medical supervision.<ref name=off/> It also provides [[calories]] and [[essential nutrients]] that restore and maintain body weight and health in severely malnourished children more effectively than [[F-100 and F-75 (foods)|F100]].<ref name="AJCN">{{cite journal|pmid=12885713|url=http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/78/2/302.long|vauthors=Diop el HI, Dossou NI, Ndour MM, Briend A, Wade S |title=Comparison of the efficacy of a solid ready-to-use food and a liquid, milk-based diet for the rehabilitation of severely malnourished children: a randomized trial|journal=American Journal of Clinical Nutrition|volume=78|issue=2|pages=302–7|date=August 2003|doi=10.1093/ajcn/78.2.302|doi-access=free}}</ref>

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==Production==

While the majority of Plumpy'Nut was made in France as of 2010, this therapeutic food is easily produced<ref name=nyt/> and can be made locally in peanut-growing areas by mixing peanut paste with a slurry of other ingredients provisioned by Nutriset.<ref name="network">{{Cite web |title=The PlumpyField network : how it works |publisher=Nutriset |url=http://www.nutriset.fr/en/international-networks/plumpyfield-network/plumpyfield-how-it-works.html?searched=plumpyfield&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight+ajaxSearch_highlight1 |access-date=3 August 2011 |archive-date=30 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930204427/http://www.nutriset.fr/en/international-networks/plumpyfield-network/plumpyfield-how-it-works.html?searched=plumpyfield&advsearch=oneword&highlight=ajaxSearch_highlight%20ajaxSearch_highlight1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

A number of partner companies and one non-profit organization in the U.S state of [[Rhode Island]] make Plumpy'Nut. There are six factories in African countries ([[Niger]], [[Burkinaincluding Faso]],two [[Ethiopia]],U.S. [[Sudan]]nonprofits, [[Madagascar]],Edesia [[KenyaNutrition]]), one is in [[HaitiRhode Island]] and another oneMana in [[IndiaGeorgia_(U.S._state)|Georgia]].<ref name=network/'fox424'>

{{cite news

|last= Smith

|first= Cory

|date= April 24, 2025

|title= Food for starving children piles up in Rhode Island warehouse amid cuts to USAID

|url= https://foxbaltimore.com/news/nation-world/food-for-starving-children-piles-up-in-rhode-island-warehouse-amid-cuts-to-usaid-edesia-plumpynut-fortified-peanut-butter-state-department-doge-us-agency-for-international-development-foreign-assistance

|newspaper=WBFF Fox45

|___location= Baltimore, Maryland

|access-date= May 17, 2025}}

</ref> There are six factories in African countries ([[Niger]], [[Burkina Faso]], [[Ethiopia]], [[Sudan]], [[Madagascar]], [[Kenya]]), one in [[Haiti]] and another one in [[India]].<ref name=network/><ref name='uglyturn'>

{{cite news

|last= Sargent

|first= Greg

|date= February 25, 2025

|title= Musk Scandal at USAID Takes Ugly Turn, Putting Starving Kids at Risk

|url= https://newrepublic.com/article/191935/usaid-musk-scandal-starving-kids

|newspaper=The New Republic

|___location=

|access-date= June 4, 2025 }}

</ref>

Plumpy'Nut is distributed from the manufacturer to geographic areas of need through a complex [[supply chain]]. Forward (downstream) information flow, such as projections of need, [[order processing]], and [[payment processing]], and backward (upstream) information flow, including [[inventory|stock monitoring]], [[quality assurance]], and performance data occur through information exchange vulnerable to errors or tardiness associated with supply chain [[fragmentation (economics)|fragmentation]].<ref name="unc">{{cite web|url=http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/~/media/Files/documents/cse/unicef-plumpy-nut-supply-chain.pdf|title=UNICEF's Plumpy'Nut supply chain|author=Swaminathan JK|publisher=University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Center for Sustainable Enterprise|date=2009|access-date=3 June 2014|archive-date=6 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606232814/http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/~/media/Files/documents/cse/unicef-plumpy-nut-supply-chain.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ft">{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edb873a2-d6ef-11df-aaab-00144feabdc0.html#axzz33bYXDfd6 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/dlwkI 20221211221215/https://www.ft.com/content/edb873a2-d6ef-11df-aaab-00144feabdc0#axzz33bYXDfd6|archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Case study: Getting food to disaster victims|publisher=Financial Times|author=Swaminathan J|date=13 October 2010|access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref>

Plumpy'Nut is distributed from the manufacturer to geographic areas of need through a complex [[supply chain]]. Forward (downstream) information flow, such as projections of need, [[order processing]], and [[payment processing]] , and

backward (upstream) information flow, including [[inventory|stock monitoring]], [[quality assurance]], and performance data

occur through information exchange vulnerable to errors or tardiness associated with supply chain [[fragmentation (economics)|fragmentation]].<ref name="unc">{{cite web|url=http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/~/media/Files/documents/cse/unicef-plumpy-nut-supply-chain.pdf|title=UNICEF's Plumpy'Nut supply chain|author=Swaminathan JK|publisher=University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Center for Sustainable Enterprise|date=2009|access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref><ref name="ft">{{cite web|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/edb873a2-d6ef-11df-aaab-00144feabdc0.html#axzz33bYXDfd6 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/dlwkI |archive-date=11 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Case study: Getting food to disaster victims|publisher=Financial Times|author=Swaminathan J|date=13 October 2010|access-date=3 June 2014}}</ref>

Factors affecting potential for loss of efficiency in the supply chain are information flow on orders, basis of need, forecasts, flow upstream from field officers and country offices to parties controlling regional distribution and manufacturing by Nutriset, downstream flow of information on delivery times and order status.<ref name=unc/><ref name="ft"/>

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[[File:Tackling malnutrition in Kenya with UNICEF and plumpy nut (6219652473).jpg|thumb|right|Woman giving Plumpy'Nut nutritional aid to her children in [[Kenya]]]]

Inspired by the popular [[Nutella]] spread,<ref name=nyt/> Plumpy'Nut was invented in 1996 by [[André Briend]], a [[France|French]] paediatric nutritionist, and [[Michel Lescanne]], a food-processing engineer.<ref name=off/> Nutella is a spread composed of sugar, modified [[palm oil]], [[hazelnuts]], cocoa, skimmed milk powder, [[whey powder]], [[lecithin]], and [[vanillin]]. In contrast, Plumpy'Nut is a combination of [[peanut paste]], vegetable oil and milk powder, without including chocolate, but containing sugar, vitamins and dietary minerals.

[[Skippy (peanut butter)|Skippy]] may have developed a similar product in the early 1960s, according to a former employee, although it was never released.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vIp45leiLXEC&q=in%20the%20late%201950s%20and%20early%201960s%20Skippy%20worked%20on%20and%20formulated%20a%20product%20that%20was%20essentially%20the%20same%20as%20this%20Plumpy'nut&pg=PA218 | title=Creamy & Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food | publisher=Columbia University Press | author=Krampner, Jon | year=2013 | pages=218 | isbn=9780231162326 | quote=According to former plant manager and engineer Frank Delfino... In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Skippy worked on and formulated a product that was essentially the same as... Plumpy'nut}}</ref>

===Patent issues===

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In 2010, two US non-profit organizations unsuccessfully sued the French company in an attempt to legally produce Plumpy'Nut in the US without paying the royalty fee.<ref name=bbc1/> Mike Mellace, president of one of the organizations claimed that "some children are dying because Nutriset prevents other companies from producing a food which could save their lives."<ref>{{cite web|last=Staff |title=Plumpy'Nut goes to court |url=http://www.vita.it/ultimenotizie/plumpy-nut-goes-to-court.html |publisher=vita.it |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505193540/http://www.vita.it/ultimenotizie/plumpy-nut-goes-to-court.html |archive-date=May 5, 2014 }}</ref> Invalidation of the Nutriset patent may have a positive impact on populations affected by famine, and studies by humanitarian organizations support the idea that having a single, dominant supplier in Nutriset is undesirable.<ref name=sandiego>{{cite web|last=Lavelle|first=Janet|title=Child malnutrition center of legal battle|date=January 16, 2010|url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2010/jan/16/child-malnutrition-center-legal-battle/all/?print |publisher= The San Diego Union-Tribune|work=utsandiego.com|access-date=25 May 2016}}</ref> Critics of Nutriset argue the US patent is "obvious in light of prior recipes" and "that the patent has essentially conferred monopoly power on Nutriset and thus violated the [[Sherman Act]]".<ref name=internatllaw/> By definition, a [[patent]] grants a temporary monopoly, and Nutriset won the case. Some have suggested a similarity between pharmaceutical company compulsory licensing agreements, in place under the [[WTO]] [[TRIPS Agreement]], and Plumpy'Nut.<ref name=internatllaw>{{cite web|last=Bakhsh|first=Umar R.|title=The Plumpy'Nut predicament: is compulsory licensing a solution?|url=http://studentorgs.kentlaw.iit.edu/ckjip/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2013/06/07_12JIntellProp2382012.pdf|publisher=Chicago Kent Journal of Intellectual Property|access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref>

Following a threat of legal action against a Norwegian company that was exporting a similar product to Kenya, Nutriset was criticized by [[Médecins Sans Frontières]],<ref name=sandiego/> which stated in an open letter that "Nutriset has been asked repeatedly by us and others for simple, reasonable licensing terms... Instead it appears that [Nutriset has] decided to adopt a policy of aggressive protection of [its] patents that could be considered an abuse in relation to humanitarian products."<ref name=MSF>{{cite web|last=von Schoen-Angerer|first=Tido|title=MSF: Nutriset patent impeding access to treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition|url=http://www.msfaccess.org/sites/default/files/MSF_assets/MalNut/Docs/NUT_letter_NutrisetPatent_ENG_2009.pdf|publisher=Campaign for Access to Essential Medicines|access-date=1 May 2014}}</ref> A UNICEF study, commissioned at Duke University and the University of North Carolina, recommended a diversified supplier base of RUTF products to better serve global needs.<ref>{{cite web|last=Team Praescient|title=UNICEF'S Mission to End Hunger: Leveraging Analytic Methodologies to Advance Development Goals|date=November 2011|url=http://praescientanalytics.com/unicefs-mission-to-end-hunger-leveraging-analytic-methodologies-to-advance-development-goals/|publisher=praescientanalytics.com/|access-date=4 May 2014}}</ref> In response to the criticism, Nutriset has allowed companies and NGOs in some African countries to make the paste and not pay license fees.<ref name=twentyseven>{{Cite web |title=Nutriset/IRD's Patents Usage Agreement |publisher=Nutriset |url=http://www.nutriset.fr/en/access/patents-for-development/online-patent-usage-agreement.html |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721015237/http://www.nutriset.fr/en/access/patents-for-development/online-patent-usage-agreement.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Plumpy'Nut patents in the USA expired in 2017 ({{cite patent|country=US|number=6346284|status=patent}}), and in the UK and the European Union in 2018 ({{cite patent|country=EP|number=1032280|status=patent}}).

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* [[Citadel spread]]

* [[Famine relief]]

* [[Humanitarian daily ration]]

* [[List of peanut dishes]]

* [[Mantecol]]

* [[Nutribun]]

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[[Category:Products introduced in 1999]]

[[Category:Dietary supplements]]

[[Category:Hunger relief]]

[[Category:Malnutrition]]

[[Category:Emergency medical services]]