MannaPack Potato-D helping to save children

Farm and Ranch Report September 29, 2010 Just what is MannaPack Potato-D? It is a fortified dehydrated potato product and the “D” stands for diarrhea, something U.S. Potato Board international marketing manager Teresa Kuwahara says we in the U.S. don’t like to talk about.

Kuwahara: “But diarrhea is one of the top killers of children worldwide. The World Heath Organization attributes 3.5 million deaths to diarrhea each year. Eighty percent of those are children under five. So this product is designed to have an impact on diarrhea for children.”

Kuwahara says the Potato Board recently partnered with the international aid group Feed My Starving Children and South Africa’s Vaal University to study MannaPack Potato-D.

Kuwahara: “And the preliminary results are very good. They show that diarrhea was diminished or resolved in a group of children who received MannaPack Potato-D.”

That study also showed the children had a growing acceptance of the product.

Kuwahara says Feed My Starving Children is using MannaPack in Zimbabwe, Haiti and the Philippines.

Kuwahara: “Feed My Starving children was able to present some results of the study at the recent International Food Assistance and Development Conference in Kansas City, and as a result of that we are seeing a lot of increased interest in potatoes as one of the bases for these fortified blended foods.”

And coming soon is MannaPack Potato-W for weaning children.

That’s the U.S. Potato Update. Brought to you by the United States Potato Board, maximizing return on grower investment. I’m Bob Hoff for Northwest Aginfo Net.