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Plumpy’Nut®:
When SME’s innovation and industrial property are there to help
emergency care.
Perhaps you have heard or read about Plumpy'Nut®1
: a high energy mixture of food that is distributed as a therapeutic food for
underfed children in countries facing severe malnutrition crises. What you may
not know are its innovation and industrial property aspects. Indeed, this
emergency care product, which is manufactured by the French SME Nutriset, is
based on an invention of the French researchers André Briend and Michel
Lescanne.
Under the related patent applications, this invention is entitled
“High energy complete food or nutritional supplement, method for
preparing same and uses thereof”. It presents a number of
advantages:
The ‘food’ is considered complete as its content
(dairy proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, mineral elements and vitamins) covers
all human nutritional needs. Unlike most powdered dairy products traditionally
used in emergency care that have to be diluted before consumption, it can be
consumed as such without adding water. It is therefore not subject to the risks
of contamination by dirty water and do not need medical personnel and time for
preparation. Its own contain of water being very low (10%) and its form of
viscous or semi viscous paste makes it a bad substance for pathogenic bacteria
development and has a low risk of oxidation. Furthermore, its viscosity can be
modified according to local needs by varying the content of fat introduced in
the mixture (the use of vegetal fat being preferred to fat of animal origin
because of their better digestibility). As a result, the paste can be easily
swallowed by patients with diminished forces including very young children in
general from as of 12 months.
Its density makes it a product which is easy to transport and
distribute. As a friendly ready-to-use product it allows not to hospitalize
children which can be treated off-site. With two packets of Plumpy’Nut a
day (500 kcal/100g.) a mother can feed her child at home. This releases
humanitarian personnel’s of the preparation and the distribution of
meals and allows medical staff to focus on the most severe cases in hospitals
or feeding centres. Plumpy'Nut® is
contained in a small flexible packaging that can easily be grabbed by little
children. It flows out when a slight pressure is made on it but is sufficiently
dense so as not to spread spontaneously under the effect of its own weight. It
makes it an ideal emergency care semisolid food for children.
Its preparation can be made everywhere including with local
ingredients. In that respect, the Nutriset company is supporting a strong
license and franchising policy (“plumpy’nut in the field”)
which allows local companies in countries such as Congo, Malawi, Ethiopia and
Niger to product Plumpy’Nut®
by exploiting its patent on a royalty-free basis.
Further information
Nutriset Web
site (in English)
Hope for Hungry Children, Arriving in a Foil Packet by M. Wines in
the New York Times
André Briend, nutritionniste à l’IRD on ird.fr (in
French)
Michel Lescanne, agronome humanitaire on Diplomatie.fr (in
French)
Related patents on esp@cenet
1.
Plumpy’Nut is a registered trade mark of Nutriset(«)
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