795 



United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) 

 and later to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Under 

 the "Food for Peace" program, additional quantities of surplus milk 

 powder were turned over to UNICEF for payment of shipping charges 

 only. The work of UNICEF, important m terms of saving lives and 

 preventing malnutrition, also spotlighted the new techniques in food 

 processing which made possible the transportation and long-term 

 storage of large quantities of mild protein. These, in turn, stimulated 

 an effort to employ technology to develop alternate sources of protein. 



NEW PROTEIN SOURCES 



One result of the search for alternate sources was the development 

 of a product known as CSM, a mixture of corn meal, soy flour, and 

 non-fat dry milk. The research leading to the production of CSM was 

 sponsored jointly by AID, the American Corn Millers' Federation, 

 the Department of Agriculture, and the National Institutes of 

 Health. It was first shipped abroad in 1966, and has beeii distributed 

 not only by UNICEF but by various voluntary agencies and by the 

 Government under the Food for Peace program. By the autumn of 

 1969 a billion poimds of CSM had been sent overseas, and it was being 

 used daily by 40 million children in over a hundred countries.^^ It 

 was particularly suited to children, and could be mixed with flour 

 in the preparation of local foods in widely separated countries. Con- 

 taining about 20 percent protein, CSM supplies the child with about 

 half of his required daily nutrients. Fortunately it enjoys wide accept- 

 ance in the LDCs. 



Another high-protein food, wheat-soya blend, was developed with 

 AID assistance. Shipments of this food commenced in 1969. 



FORTIFYING FOODS 



The creation of new, protein-rich foods and beverages is one method 

 of attacking the protein shortage of the LDCs. Aiiol her is the addi- 

 tion of amino acids, protein concentrates, vitamins, find other essen- 

 tial trace nutrients tx) staples like bread or milk. Addi tion of vitamins 

 A and D to milk, the 'Enrichment" of bread, and the addition of 

 iodine to salt to prevent goiter have long been practiced in the devel- 

 oped countries. What is new, as far as the deve oping countries 

 are concerned, is that technical progress has made it economically 

 feasible to fortify low-protein foods which are the piime constituents 

 of the diet of millions of people in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. 

 Two of the essential amino acids, lysine and methionine, can be 

 synthesized at a relatively low cost. The addition of even a small 

 amount of lysine to wheat flour significantly improves the nutritive 

 value of that flour, and of bread baked with it. 



At the present time India carries on the biggest lysine fortification 

 program in the world. Wheat flour, fortified with lysine and Vitamins 

 A and B, is made into bread at government bakeries. Under the name 

 of "Modem Bread," this fortified product is sold for the same price 



""U.S. Agency for International Development. "The Protein Gap. AID's Role in Re- 

 ducing Malnutrition In Developing Countries," op. cit., page 10. 



