Do What You Can't
You Can't Prevent Death with Peanut Butter
You can’t prevent impending death with portable peanut butter packets. But… Every 11 seconds, a child dies from Severe Acute Malnutrition. In remote areas, hospitals are often too far for families to travel. And other nutrition solutions require water or refrigeration, which makes it difficult to prepare in areas where those resources are scarce.
So Michel Lescanne developed Plumpy’Nut, the first Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). This high-energy, vitamin-fortified treatment offers a fast, practical, and scalable solution that saves millions of lives globally. It is cost-effective, ready to eat, requires no water for preparation, and has a long shelf-life, making it especially ideal for resource-poor settings.
What’s most impressive is its potency to renourish malnourished children, taking patients from near-death to relative health in a matter of weeks. So, you can.
The Full Story
Nutella-Inspired Spread Prevents Top Cause of Death Among Children
Plumpy'Nut is a Nutella-inspired spread designed to combat severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in children around the world. French pediatrition André Briend and food engineer Michel Lescanne came together as co-inventors of this revolutionary ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), in efforts to combat one of number one killers of children under five. Developed in 1996, Plumpy'Nut has since become a cornerstone in global malnutrition treatment, providing a practical and effective solution for emergency nutrition. Andre and Michel combined their respective expertise to create a product that could meet the nutritional needs and logistical challenges of children in resource-poor settings.
The Scope of The Problem
Every year, a staggering 45% of all child deaths under the age of five are linked to malnutrition—this equates to more than 3 million children globally. Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) remains a critical global health issue, particularly affecting children under five in developing countries. The root cause lies in a complex web of poverty, insufficient healthcare, and an absence of effective solutions that reach the most desperate areas.
In impoverished nations, healthcare systems are often underfunded and lack the resources to effectively treat malnutrition, especially in children. And even when aid does arrive, it is frequently inadequate or unsustainable, leaving children without the vital nutrition they need for recovery. While well-intentioned food aid initiatives have been attempted, they have often been difficult to distribute or lacked the necessary nutritional density. The crisis of malnutrition, compounded by systemic barriers, continues to thrive—until now.
The Limitations of Prior Solutions
Traditional treatment methods often fell short of the practical realities of the population. Hospital-based treatments for severe malnutrition did prove effective in ideal settings; but rarely did those experiencing hunger find themselves in ideal settings. Going to the hospital proved impractical in remote regions where healthcare infrastructure was minimal or non-existent. This reality was only exacerbated in times of emergency, war and famine.
Therapeutic milks necessitated clean water and refrigeration — both resources which remain scarce in many regions. This scarcity limits the accessibility and effectiveness of those malnutrition interventions. Furthermore, food aid packages lacked the necessary nutritional content or were difficult to transport and distribute. They also weren’t designed for easy consumption in unsupervised settings. The result was that millions of children were left without sustained access to the nutrition they so desperately needed, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and malnutrition.
Imagining a New Solution
Inspired by the popular chocolate spread Nutella, two innovators set to work. French pediatrician Michel Lescanne and food engineer André Briend co-created a revolutionary product that would fundamentally change the game in the fight against childhood malnutrition. Plumpy'Nut, a ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), was designed to tackle severe malnutrition in children with a simple yet highly effective solution: a nutrient-dense peanut paste, fortified with vitamins and minerals.
What set Plumpy'Nut apart was its ease of use and accessibility. It didn’t require cooking or mixing—children could simply eat it directly from the package. Moreover, it had a shelf-stable life, meaning it could be distributed to even the most remote and underserved regions without worrying about spoilage. By making it portable and practical, Plumpy'Nut solved the logistical nightmare of food aid, enabling rapid, widespread distribution.
The Disruptive Design
Plumpy'Nut redefined how the world could address childhood malnutrition. The product is a high-energy, nutrient-dense paste made from peanuts, oil, sugar, milk powder, and essential vitamins and minerals, all blended into a smooth, easy-to-consume spread. What makes it unique is its ability to be used directly by children without any preparation—no cooking, no water, no mixing. Just open the packet and eat. This simple innovation saved time, effort, and resources while ensuring that children in remote areas could be treated without waiting for healthcare interventions.
Furthermore, its long shelf life and ease of use make it ideal for community-based management of acute malnutrition. And since it could be stored and distributed without the risk of spoilage, it was also perfect for emergency response efforts. Its portable nature made it possible to reach far-flung communities, where traditional healthcare methods were either unavailable or impractical. Plumpy'Nut provided an immediate, scalable solution to the malnutrition crisis—one that was cost-effective, accessible, and most importantly, effective.
The Impact of Plumpy'Nut on Global Health
Plumpy'Nut could reverse deadly levels of child malnutrition in just 6-8 weeks. And the significance of this imact speaks for itself. The product has been distributed to millions of children in countries around the world, including regions hit by famine, conflict, and natural disaster. Plumpy'Nut is now a cornerstone of emergency relief efforts from organizations like UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders, who have praised its ability to save lives and provide immediate care.
Studies have shown that the recovery rate for children treated with Plumpy'Nut is over 90%, a staggering success rate for any medical intervention. What’s more, it has drastically reduced child mortality rates in some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Its impact has been far-reaching, not just in emergency situations but also in routine malnutrition rehabilitation programs.
The Power of Simplicity and Scale
What makes Plumpy'Nut’s success so profound is not just its innovation but its scalability. It shows that solving global health issues often requires simple, practical solutions that can be widely distributed and easily adopted by local populations. The creators were inspired by existing products, like Nutella spread, which made the paste not only palatable but also familiar and comforting to children.
Additionally, Plumpy'Nut highlights the importance of cross-disciplinary collaboration. The synergy between Lescanne's expertise in pediatrics and Briend’s background in food engineering made for a solution that was both scientifically sound and logistically viable. The product's success emphasizes how interdisciplinary collaboration can lead to solutions that tackle global challenges.
For social entrepreneurs looking to create impact, Plumpy'Nut’s story is a powerful reminder that sometimes, the most transformative solutions are those that are simple, scalable, and designed with the end user in mind. In this case, Plumpy'Nut did not just treat malnutrition—it revolutionized how the world could address it, one small packet at a time.ese solutins must be implemented.