A food supplement developed by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences to get meat products into the diets of Kenyan children may end up as the basis for a nutritious American snack.
But it is not likely that rabbit or goat meat will provide the protein in snacks marketed in this country as they do in Africa. "I expect that chicken or beef would be used here," says Ed Mills, associate professor of dairy and animal science, chuckling. "For Kenya, we utilized meats that were most readily available so that the product could be made locally. I'm not sure Americans are ready for snack foods made from rabbit or goat meat."
The product, dubbed Chiparoos by Stephen Kieras, a graduate student who worked on the project, was developed about five years ago after Penn State nutrition scientists learned that a lack of animal products in the diets of very young sub-Saharan African children and their mothers was hampering the children's physical and mental development.
"Research shows that even a small amount of animal products in the diet of nursing mothers and children just after they are weaned improves the kids' mental capabilities," Mills says. "If you get the animal products into the child's diet, you help with cognitive abilities later on. And we know now that if you miss that opportunity at that very young age, you don't get a second chance."
So Mills searched for a "mechanism" to deliver that specialized nourishment, and came up with Chiparoos -- thick, brittle chips that would remind Americans of heavy-duty home-style potato chips. The big difference is that along with the carbohydrates provided by the potato, Chiparoos also deliver protein from meat. Mills and Kieras developed a low-technology solar drying process for Chiparoos that can be used by Africans and result in long shelf life.
"At this critical time in their development, kids are just getting teeth, so we needed to come up with a food they can eat easily," says Mills. "Older children can eat Chiparoos right out of the package, but for infants, their mother can crumble them up into their porridge. For impoverished kids suffering from malnutrition, this doesn't offer a balanced diet by any stretch of the imagination, but it gets them a small amount of the meat products that they need."