Where can you buy Plumpy'nut?

Answer 1

Plumpy'nut is a special, easy to digest, dietary paste invented in 1999 by Andre Briend and now developed and produced by Nutriset. With ingredients of peanut butter, milk and vitamins, its purpose is to reverse severe malnutrition in Third World countries, or in countries where drought has reduced food supplies so severely that babies, children and nursing mothers often die from malnutrition. Most production occurs in Malawi, Niger, Ethiopia, and Congo.

Plumpy'nut is not available for consumers in developed to purchase, mainly because severe malnutrition is not a widespread problem in developed countries like the USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Ireland, Germany, etc.

For individuals in developed countries, poor nutrition is often related to some other primary medical problem. A physician should be consulted, first, to rule out medical problems, such as hyperthyroidism or Type I (juvenile) or Type II (adult-onset) Diabetes. As well, a dental exam may reveal poor dentition which includes problems with chewing, painful teeth or dentures, or even problems related to lack of taste or smell, or having a bad taste in the mouth. Medications that elderly often must take can cause problems with taste. As well, persons who have been on antibiotics can develop oral thrush (yeast infection) which covers the tongue and changes taste as the yeast infection produces toxins; once treated, taste buds often recover sufficiently. A physician can also address anorexia (poor eating) and nausea that interferes with eating.

In the USA, there are numerous "nutritional supplemental" drinks and foods available. Often these are covered by State Medical Card if a physician writes a prescription. Some nutritional drinks include: Ensure, Glucerna, Boost, and others. Some types of nutritional food supplements include Ensure Pudding, and Nutella. Nutrella is a hazelnut and cocoa spread that can be applied to bread; it has the texture of peanut butter and is high in calories-- however, you should check with a doctor or nutritionist to be sure the calorie content is not just empty calories and to be sure that any supplement will address the individual's problem with poor eating or weight loss. Again, families should be sure that a doctor has verified there is no underlying medical problem, especially in children and the elderly. ALSO, note that nutritional supplemental drinks and foods can raise blood sugar in diabetics and the person will need to include consumption in their dietary limits a doctor set to manage the person's diabetes.