Table 1.

Contribution of Food Science and Technology in the development of nutritious local foods.

Objectives	Examples of local adaptability	References
Development of new nutritious foods/improving existing foods	Reformulation: •Replacing peanut paste in ready-to-use supplementary foods (RUSF) with locally available nuts or pulses (almonds or chickpea - WFP, Pakistan); cashew nuts (Ivory Coast) and Bambara nuts. •Replacing soy proteins or animal proteins with under-exploited plant proteins (chickpea - WFP RUSF ‘Wawa Mum’); leaf proteins •Evaluating plant proteins; pseudocereals (quinoa, teff and amaranth grains, leaves)	UNICEF-WFP-USAID (2016); WFP (2011) Bounie et al. (in AIFST, 2017); WFP (2011) Akande et al. (2017); Michaelsen et al. (2009); Shumoy and Raes (2017); Rathore (2010)
Adapting to local food habits and varying the taste of common Ready to Use Supplementary Foods (RUSFs) and blended flours; adding aroma and spices	•Equinut project; Nutriset ‘(Plumpynut’); developing new textures (extruded pillows filled with nutritious paste made by Nutriset; gellified bars) •Producing locally RUSF adapted to local resources and tastes •Developing RUSFs with intermediate water activity and improved osmolality, minimizing diarrheal side effects; decrease need to drink safe water when eating lipid-based RUSFs	AKDN (2016) and Seye (in AIFST, 2017) Sheeran (2009) Webb et al. (2011)
Improving the nutritional and health value of Special Nutritious Foods (SNFs)	Improving bioavailability by reducing phytase activity; improving nutrient density of fortified blended flours using appropriate processes (extrusion cooking, germination, use of alpha-amylase) to reduce consistency improving swallowing ability to achieve fullness in the stomach in infants Adding functional ingredients (probiotics, anti-diarrheal constituents e.g. new products developed by Nutriset)	Harvestplus (2019); Van Hoan et al. (2010); Webb et al. (2011) Nutriset (2018)
Improving shelf-life of SNFs using traditional antioxidant products or antioxidant rich natural ingredients or new combined processes	Kemin Industries Inc. operates in more than 60 countries with manufacturing facilities in Belgium, Brazil, China, India, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United States providing advice on health and nutritional solutions to agrifoods, food ingredients, pet food and human health and pharmaceutical industries	WFP (2008)
Improving convenience of SNFs i.e. reduced re-humidification during storage, auto heating products, design of more ready-to-use foods	WFP has provided ‘Specialized Nutritious foods' sheet as a reference for the various types of formulated foods made available to address undernutrition.	WFP (2013)
Understanding and better control of the operating conditions when producing SNFs locally	Control and optimisation of degree of cooking (which affects digestibility) when producing precooked extruded blended flours; selecting the appropriate process for efficiently cooking blended flours; extrusion cooking vs. drum drying or Infra-Red roasting	Van Hoan et al. (2010); WFP (2019)
Designing and developing appropriate equipment (low cost, easy to operate and maintain, resistant to wear)	Containerized food processing units, using alternative energy (solar energy, biogas from waste, biochar)	Bounie (2018); Fellows (in AIFST, 2017)
Improving the safety and quality of foods: Use of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) methodology, traceability systems, rapid-analysis system for on-site quality assessment	The ‘Blue Box’ to assess in the field the aflatoxin content of maize developed for WFP	Webb et al. (2011); WFP (2012)