PNFC’s advocacy has always been to provide Filipinos with nutritious food for their optimum health and growth. This year, we supplied various government agencies with our fortified version of the popular 70’s bread Nutribun.
Those who lived during the 1970s will be familiar with Nutribun, a fortified bread designed as a ready-to-eat complete meal to combat child malnutrition in the Philippines. It was brought to the Philippines through the cooperative effort of USAID Nutrition; the United States’ Food for Peace program; Wheat Associates, Inc.; the international humanitarian agencies CARE and Catholic Relief Services; Philippine government agencies; and local commercial bakeries. Scientists from USAID Nutrition developed the bread formulation, while local bakeries were tasked with the production. Compared to the traditional pan de sal, the original Nutribun was bigger, heavier on the stomach, more cost-effective, and faster to make. It was usually distributed to students before school and partnered with milk or other spreads to make it appealing to students. According to a 1979 final report prepared by USAID consultants Dr. R.W. Engels and Dr. J.C. Arnold, approximately 200,000 elementary pupils received 30 million Nutribuns as a snack in a test program while in attendance in school from 1970-1971. It was then extended to a total of about 1,300,000 students from the school year 1971-1972. Nutribun did not only help malnourished school children but also proved to be a convenient commodity when disastrous floods struck Central Luzon from July-August, 1972.
Today, a fortified version of the historical bread is back in PNFC’s feeding programs. The new Nutribun can be stored for up to 14 days and is served with a sachet of Enov’Nutributter or Enov’mum. Nutributter is a peanut butter and milk flavored paste that promotes growth and prevents malnutrition, while Enov’mum is a nutritional supplement containing the main micronutrients and essential fatty acids that pregnant and lactating women need for a quality diet. Nutribun with Nutributter has a caloric content of 326.21 kcal and a protein content of 11.37 g (the old Nutribun has 250 kcal and 19.4 g, respectively). When paired with Nutributter, it is more nutrient-rich with 20 vitamins and minerals compared to the 6 vitamins and minerals in the 70s version.
The feeding programs have over 160,000 beneficiaries. Government agencies have an on-going distribution of 723,450 pieces of Nutribun with Enov’mum for 24,115 pregnant women and 4,284,448 pieces of Nutribun with Enov’Nutributter for 144,574 children and 24 schools nationwide.
Sources:
Orillos, J.B. (2018, September 21) A History of the Nutribun, The Well-intentioned Bread from the 70s. Esquire. https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/nutribun-history-a1623-20180921-lfrm
CARE Philippines. Now that the distribution of Nutribun is set for a comeback, do you know that CARE was part of this feeding program in the 1970s https://www.esquiremag.ph/culture/lifestyle/nutribun-history-a1623-20180921-lfrm https://www.facebook.com/CAREPhilippines/posts/1721021228034071
Philippine History and Architecture. (2014, 5 April). The Nutribun Project. Late 80s to 70s [Image Attached] [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/111131982293260/photos/the-nutribun-project-late-80s-to-70s-a-nutribun-is-a-kind-of-bread-made-from-don/641555709250882/
PNFC Tie-ups with DSWD and DepEd. Philippine Nutri-Foods Corporation.
Engels, R.W. and J.C. Arnold. (1979). Final report: Nutrition and related services provided to the Republic of the Philippines by Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under contract Aid/Asia, C-1136.
