Background and objectives In India, national nutrition programmes emphasise age-appropriate, nutrient-dense complementary foods for young children. This study aimed to optimise nutrient-dense complementary foods for children aged 6–35 months using locally sourced ingredients and a mixture design approach, in alignment with the Nutrition Norms of the Poshan 2.0 Program under Schedule II of the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013), revised in 2023. Methods D-optimal mixture design is an advanced statistical design of experiments method used to determine the ideal proportions of ingredients in a mixture, where components sum to 100%. We used this design to optimise the proportions of cereals, pulses, milk powder, nuts, seeds, and oil to maximise iron, calcium, and zinc content while minimising phytate-to-mineral molar ratios. The optimised complementary base mix was standardised into three variants: one with reduced refined sugar and two without added refined sugar (one savoury-based mix and one dates powder-based mix). Mineral and phytic acid contents were analysed using standard analytical methods. Sensory evaluation was conducted using a nine- point hedonic scale with a semi-trained institutional panel. Results All optimised formulations met revised NFSA, 2013 nutrient standards for energy, protein, fat, carbohydrates, and key essential micronutrients, while reducing phytate-to-mineral molar ratios within practical formulation limits. Sensory evaluation showed good overall acceptability for all variants, with a mean score above 7.0. The savoury-based mix achieved the highest overall acceptability, followed by the reduced refined sugar-based mix and the dates powder-based mix. Interpretation and conclusions The findings demonstrate that a systematic formulation approach can be used to develop nutrient-dense, complementary food mixes with reduced or no added refined sugar using locally available ingredients without compromising micronutrient adequacy and sensory acceptability, supporting their potential relevance for public nutrition programmes.
Thenarangam et al. (Sat,) studied this question.