Therapeutic Food

Therapeutic Food

Therapeutic foods are foods designed for specific, usually nutritional, therapeutic purposes as a form of dietary supplement. The primary examples of therapeutic foods are used for emergency feeding of malnourished children or to supplement the diets of persons with special nutritional requirements, such as the elderly.

Therapeutic foods are usually made of a mixture of protein, carbohydrate, lipid and vitamins and minerals. Therapeutic foods are usually produced by grinding all ingredients together and mixing the ingredients together. “The mixing process allows for the protein and carbohydrate components of the food to be embedded in the lipid matrix. The size of the particles within the mixture has to be less than 200 µm ., in order for the mixture to maintain its consistency. Using this method, the therapeutic food is produced and packaged without using water, which would eliminate the issue of spoilage of the food. Some therapeutic foods require the addition of water before administering, while others can be consumed as is. Therapeutic foods are designed and manufactured to ensure that the foods are ready to eat straight from the packaging. Those foods resist bacterial contamination and require no cooking.

The World Health Organization's standards for the treatment of malnutrition in children specify the use of two formulas during initial treatment, F-75 and F-100. These formulas contain a mixture of powdered milk, sugar, and other ingredients designed to provide an easily absorbed mix of carbohydrates and essential micronutrients. They are generally provided as powdered mixes which are reconstituted with water. The WHO recommends the use of these formulas, with the gradual introduction of other foods, until the child approaches a normal weight.

The standard treatment of childhood malnutrition is administered in 2 phases. Phase one usually deals with children who are severely malnourished and very ill as a result. The therapy used in this phase is F-75, a milk-based liquid food containing modest amounts of energy and protein (75 kcal/100 mL and 0.9 g protein/100 mL) and the administration of parenteral antibiotics. When an improvement in the child’s appetite and clinical condition is observed, the child is then entered into phase two of the treatment. This phase uses F-100 for feeding the child. F-100 is a “specially formulated, high-energy, high-protein (100 kcal/100 mL, 2.9 g protein/100 mL) milk-based liquid food”. The child is in phase two until he/she is no longer wasted . Phase two starts while the child is at the hospital but is usually completed after the child goes home. The parent is then responsible for feeding the child a flour supplement made of cereal and legumes as a replacement for the milk-based foods used in phase one and phase two.