The drink is made by mixing about two tablespoons of a powder fortified with 11 vitamins and minerals in a glass of water. It supplies 30 percent to 120 percent of the U.S.-recommended dietary allowances for 11 nutrients. Specifically, the fortified orange-flavored powder contains iron, zinc, iodine, vitamins A, C and E, folic acid, niacin, thiamin, riboflavin and pyrodoxine. Latham notes that about two-thirds of pregnant women in the developing world suffer from anemia, and many do not take iron pills regularly. In addition, many infants in developing countries are at risk for vitamin A deficiency. It was found that the breast milk of new mothers in the Tanzanian test group consuming the fortified supplement showed improved vitamin A levels in their breast milk compared with the control group. Similar findings have been found in a study of children in the Philippines; another study is under way in Bangladesh with adolescent girls,
The researchers believe that when the new dietary supplement is regularly consumed as a low-cost, pleasant-tasting drink, it has the potential to improve the nutrition of many millions of people worldwide, especially women and children who commonly are deficient in many nutrients.
Latham's collaborators on the study included Cornell postdoctoral associate Deborah Ash, Cornell Ph.D. 2000; Diklar Makola, M.D.; and scientists from Tanzania, including Simon Tatala, M.D., and Godwin Ndossi, Cornell Ph.D. '92.
The experimental batch of the powder was manufactured by the Procter and Gamble Co. under the leadership of Haile Mehansho, a food scientist at Proctor and Gamble. The research in Tanzania was supported by the Micronutrient Initiative of Canada and by UNICEF. The Micronutrient Colloquium was sponsored by the Procter and Gamble Nutrition Science Institute. The work has benefited from public-private partnerships and collaboration among international organizations, develo
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Contact: Susan S. Lang
SSL4@cornell.edu
607-255-3613
Cornell University News Service
29-Oct-2002