Ready To Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF)

Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is a high calorie, nutrient-dense paste (spread) which is the most widely used outpatient treatment for severe acute malnutrition.

RUTF has seen success in many African countries but it has failed to get the same foothold in India due to issues with palatability, reliability of water supply and cost. Spreads are not traditionally used for feeding infants or young children and were initially proposed for feeding severely malnourished children during the recovery phase. The advantages of these products include a high energy and nutrient density, a very good acceptability, and resistance to bacterial contamination. Comfo spread developed by ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal is a high-viscosity fat product and prepared by mixing dried powdered ingredients with a vegetable fat chosen for its viscosity (Fig. 1). Developed spread could be designed to boost the nutritional density of diets of children. Spreads could be mixed with the meals or porridges traditionally given to infants or eaten by themselves as snacks. Malnutrition frequently occurs among children in the community as well as those with acute illness. Food-based approaches have been an integral part in efforts to alleviate the impact of malnutrition. The use of ready to eat food (RTE) initially designed for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) is now widely advocated and practiced. RTE is available as a commercial product packed in oxygen-free foil sachets.