Table 5.

Quotes relating to perceptions of potential supplements among study participants: adult people living with HIV, rural Chilomoni, Blantyre district, Malawi (n 24)

Chocolate milkshake (slightly thick and packed in a 300 ml bottle)

5.1.‘This is a drink made with milk and chocolate. I can easily take with me and drink it.’

5.2.‘If I go and drink it out people will be jealous. Looks so luxurious it has milk.’

5.3.‘It is tasty. So refreshing. I would take it and drink it everywhere. People will think that I have money … It has milk.’

5.4.‘This one has the energy and strength that I need to work.’

5.5.‘The colour makes me think it is too sweet [chocolate] and we, PLHIV, hate sugar, but when I tried it, it is not so sweet. I like it, but I would prefer something fruity.’

5.6.‘It’s good but needs to be a bit thicker, so you feel that you are eating something nutritious. Add some fruits instead of chocolate.’

Fruit bars (dark brown bars of ~6 cm×3 cm, with a soft consistency, sweet and sour flavours made with citrus fruits and peanuts)

5.7.‘It is too sweet. I can’t recognize what it’s made of.’

5.8.‘The colour looks like there is something bad in there. It’s not natural.’

5.9.‘It’s sticky and rough. It can stick to my sores and teeth. Not good …’

5.10.‘This doesn’t look like something that can help us.’

5.11.‘Looks like it is difficult to digest.’

Cream-filled chocolate cereals (pillow-shaped ~2·5 cm×2·5 cm, with a hard crunchy texture outside and a soft chocolate filling inside)

5.12.‘This looks so strange to me. What is it?’

5.13.‘I can’t try it I have mouth sores. This looks so hard.’

5.14.‘It is so hard, I felt like it dug into my teeth.’

5.15.‘The colour is so boring.’

5.16.‘I don’t like the shape. It looks like medicines. When I eat food I want to eat food not medicines.’

Butternut biscuit (soft round buttery biscuit, slightly sweet and salty)

5.17.‘It’s a biscuit.’

5.18.‘Taste like butter. I don’t like butter.’

5.19.‘It tastes like medicine... Leaves an aftertaste.’

5.20.‘It’s soft, but a bit dry. I would need to eat it with tea.’

5.21.‘Boring colour.’

PLHIV, people living with HIV.