Plumpy'Nut

Plumpy'Nut is a sweetened peanut-based paste that starving children find palatable and easy to eat, enabling them to gain weight quickly. It is a mix of peanuts, sugar, vegetable oil and skimmed milk powder, enriched with vitamins and minerals). It is classed as a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food.

The maker, Nutriset, protects its near-monopoly with patents, which is controversial. Some manufacturers of similar products, for example in Haiti, ignore the patents.

• Could a Peanut Paste Called Plumpy'nut End Malnutrition?, The New York Times, Sep 2, 2010.