Formulation and Acceptability of a Modified Milk and Legume-Based Take Home Ration to Meet the Nutrient Gap Among Rural South Indian Supplementary Nutrition Programme Beneficiaries

Background Inadequate complementary feeding practices in low- and middle-income countries, pose a challenge in meeting nutrient requirements for optimal child growth. The Indian Government's Supplementary Nutrition Programme (SNP) addresses this through take-home-ration (THR). However, previous situational analysis from two rural districts of Karnataka, revealed deficits in nutrient intake and poor THR utilisation. Objective To bridge the observed gap in SNP-beneficiaries (aged 6–12 months), a modified-THR with adequate fat and protein quality was formulated and tested for acceptability. Methods Two formulations:­ milk-predominant and legume-predominant, were developed using local ingredients and solver-based linear programming approach. Each variant included four flavours: base, cardamom, banana and apple. The modified-THR was optimised for energy (∼200 kcal), protein-quality (Digestible indispensable amino-acid score >80%), milk-to-legume ratio, protein-to-energy ratio (<0.15) and cost (<8 INR). In Phase-1, 30 mothers rated the variants using 5-point Hedonic-Smiley-Scale, shortlisting two flavours per variant. In Phase-2, another set of 35 mother-infant dyads per variant tested the shortlisted flavours. The formulation (70 g cooked/serving) was deemed acceptable if >60% was consumed within 15 minutes. Results In Phase-1, mothers preferred milk-base, milk-banana, legume-apple and legume-banana. In Phase-2, milk-base had highest median consumption (98.6%) with 87% of infants showing acceptability. Conclusions The modified-THR with added milk and legume met the predefined nutrient target for the observed macronutrient gap and was acceptable among mother-infant dyads.