A statistic from 60 minutes, “Every year, malnutrition kills five million children — that’s one child every six seconds.” In 1999 André Briend invented a peanut butter-like substance full of vitamins and minerals that serves as a food supplement. It has saved many from certain death. In countries where malnutrition is the main cause of death among children Plumpy’nut is the cure. As reported by 60 minutes last Sunday in the segment “A Lifesaver Called Plumpynut,”
“Now we have something. It is like an essential medicine. In three weeks, we can cure a kid that is looked like they’re half dead. We can cure them just like an antibiotic. It’s just, boom! It’s a spectacular response,” Dr. Tectonidis says.’
“Plumpynut is a remarkably simple concoction: it is basically made of peanut butter, powdered milk, powdered sugar, and enriched with vitamins and minerals. It tastes like a peanut butter paste. It is very sweet, and because of that kids cannot get enough of it.”
In the country of Niger the response has been significant. The basic problem is poverty and lack of food. More from the segment,
“Why are so many kids dying? Because they can’t get the milk, vitamins and minerals their young bodies need. Mothers in these villages can’t produce enough milk themselves and can’t afford to buy it. Even if they could, they can’t store it — there’s no electricity, so no refrigeration. Powdered milk is useless because most villagers don’t have clean water. Plumpynut was designed to overcome all these obstacles.”
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From the article “In Niger, Plumpy’nut becomes a life saver” written in the International Herald Tribune,
“The product is the brainchild of a French scientist, André Briend, who had labored in vain for years to concoct a ready-to-eat nutrition supplement until serendipity - a bottle of the popular breakfast spread Nutella on his kitchen table - led him to try a paste instead of candy bars and other forms of food. Later a French company that specializes in making food supplements for relief work, Nutriset, began packaging the formula under the name Plumpy’nut.”
For a month’s supply of Plumpy’nut that costs $20, countless lives will be saved from malnutrition. All this from a French scientist who simplified the problem by looking at a jar of Nutella while he was eating breakfast. André Briend is a real hero.
