food issues - feeding the hungry

Ready-To-Use-Foods have become the cornerstone of humanitarian aid projects around the world. They contain a high-energy food crammed with high-protein peanut, milk, sugar, oils and fortified with extra vitamins and minerals.The sachets have revolutionised emergency feeding in humanitarian emergencies because they can be eaten directly from the packet, do not require refrigeration or mixing with clean water - often in short supply - and can be stored for years.
Unicef, which buys three quarters of the world's supply, bought 10,000 tonnes of these sachets last year, more than triple the volume bought in 2007. Two or three packets a day for about three months can help a malnourished child recover, according to Unicef. Medecins Sans Frontieres and the former US president's Clinton Foundation are major buyers too.

Valid Nutrition has become one of a growing band of companies paying Nutriset a royalty to use its recipe. Norwegian manufacturer Compact for Life, began manufacturing in India two weeks ago and plans to expand to countries where Nutriset has not patented Plumpy'nut.

MSF criticised the company recently :-
“For reasons that are obvious, the intellectual property pertaining to nutritional products of a humanitarian nature must be handled differently from that pertaining to commercial products. As you know, we believe that, in the humanitarian field of nutrition, patents should be filed only on an exceptional basis, and when they exist, licencing agreements should be offered to third parties on flexible terms and conditions, so as to ensure the widest possible availability of nutritional products of a humanitarian nature... MSF, as well as other agencies working in the battle against malnutrition, can no longer continue to depend on a single source of supply for ready-to-use products. The current position of Nutriset in this regard is a source of concern to some of these agencies, as it is to MSF. We therefore encourage Nutriset to play a key and innovative role in the management of its intellectual property by offering humanitarian licencing agreements for the production and export of ready-to-use products.”
(Granted , one reason for the control of patent rights is to head off those multi national agro-businesses who might want in on the action.)

It is those same Big Business food companies which are now also being targeted by campaigners demanding they now fortify with extra vitamins and minerals.
everyday foods that can be sold to consumers. Many eat enough calories to live, by consuming staples such as rice or bread. But far fewer can afford foods containing crucial nutrients provided by meat, legumes or vegetables. Each year, this type of malnutrition kills 3.5 million under-fives and damages 178 million others. Children malnourished in the first 1,000 days of life suffer irreversible damage to their bodies and brains.

Few large companies fortify foods as standard. There is no market pressure and few companies see public health as a business imperative according to Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition . Decisions by business not to produce such foods cost lives.