Congressional Champions Join UNICEF USA to Commemorate 30th Anniversary of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food

WASHINGTON D.C. (June 26, 2026) – This week, UNICEF USA convened bipartisan Congressional champions, global nutrition leaders and American manufacturers to celebrate the 30^th anniversary of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a groundbreaking innovation that has transformed the treatment of severe wasting in children and saved millions of lives around the world.

Invented in 1996, RUTF is a nutrient dense, peanut-based paste that enables children suffering from severe wasting to receive lifesaving care at home and in their communities, without the need for hospitalization or refrigeration. Today, it remains one of the most effective and scalable interventions for treating severe acute malnutrition, particularly in humanitarian emergencies and hard-to-reach settings. Each year, UNICEF delivers nearly 1 billion sachets of RUTF, reaching more than 9 million children across every continent. Nine out of 10 children treated with RUTF make a full recovery, often within weeks.

RUTF has received long-standing, bipartisan support from the U.S. government. United States Representatives Austin Scott (R-GA,) Young Kim (R-CA), Gabe Amo (D-RI), and Seth Magaziner (D-RI) who have been leading champions in Congress for RUTF, joined UNICEF USA to recognize its 30^th anniversary. 

"For 30 years, Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods have changed the lives of countless children and their families,” said Rep. Austin Scott. “RUTF has furthered the shared mission of ending child malnutrition in a way that has forever impacted the world, and it will continue to be a major tool we have in the fight against child hunger." 

“I’m proud to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) with UNICEF USA. This American-made innovation remains the gold standard treatment for severe wasting in children,” said Rep. Young Kim. “As Chairwoman of the EAP Subcommittee, I helped lead the effort to secure $300 million for RUTF in the FY27 State Department bill and will keep fighting for strong funding. After seeing the vital work of partners like Edesia and Mana Nutrition firsthand in Ghana, we must sustain this lifesaving investment to save more lives and advance U.S. leadership abroad.”

"Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods have revolutionized the treatment of malnourished kids," said Rep. Gabe Amo. "I'm proud to celebrate these successes thanks to the work of UNICEF and domestic RUTF producers like Rhode Island’s Edesia Nutrition. I'll keep working on the House Foreign Affairs Committee to support efforts combatting malnutrition, save lives abroad, and protect jobs at home."

“For 30 years, ready-to-use therapeutic food has helped save the lives of millions of children suffering from severe malnutrition around the world, and the dedicated Rhode Island workers at Edesia in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, have proudly helped make that possible,” said Rep. Seth Magaziner. “As we celebrate this milestone, we must also recommit in Congress to ensuring funding for RUTF is protected.” 

UNICEF works with U.S. suppliers in Georgia and Rhode Island, who work with local farms to produce RUTF that feeds millions of children every year. What starts in the fields of American peanut farmers is purchased by these suppliers and manufactured in warehouses that bring vital jobs to their local economies. U.S. manufacturers Edesia and Mana Nutrition also joined the 30^th anniversary celebration. These companies provide UNICEF with packets of RUTF that equip families in communities all around the world with the food they need to break the cycle of malnutrition and help their children grow.

Alice Dowd, advocacy and external relations intern at Edesia Nutrition, is a survivor of severe acute malnutrition. Alice was born in Sierra Leone, West Africa, in a rural village where she lost her mother to complications from childbirth. Left severely malnourished and unable to walk or talk at age two and a half, Alice was brought to an orphanage where she received medical care and was treated with Plumpy'Nut (RUTF).

"Malnutrition affects millions of children and mothers around the world, but for me, it is more than a statistic. It is part of my own story. As a child, I experienced severe acute malnutrition firsthand, and my life was saved thanks to treatment with RUTF,” Alice said. “Unfortunately, what happened to me is not rare. Millions of children around the world still face the same hunger and malnutrition that I experienced—and something as simple as a packet of RUTF can bring a child back from the brink of death in just weeks."

"Every pack of our lifesaving RUTF starts in the fields of Georgian peanut farmers. We purchase 2 million pounds of peanuts every month,” said Stephanie Grunenfelder, Global Nutrition Advisor at Mana Nutrition. “Our facility in Fitzgerald, Georgia is capable of producing 330,000 pounds of product every day, feeding 3.25 million children each year. That facility brings vital jobs to that rural community, supporting the economy and providing opportunities to families in the region. And as a nonprofit, our only shareholders are the children we serve and their mothers who love them."

Additional speakers included Jess Leinwand, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel of UNICEF USA; Joan Matji, UNICEF's Director of Child Nutrition and Development; and Etleva (Eva) Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa and former Director of UNICEF's Supply Division, who has helped lead UNICEF's global supply chain and nutrition efforts for more than three decades.

"As we mark 30 years of RUTF, we celebrate an innovation that has helped save millions of children's lives by transforming the treatment of wasting. This achievement reflects the power of partnership and sustained investment by governments, manufacturers and donors in child nutrition" said Dr. Joan Matji. “While we continue to deliver life-saving treatment to every child who needs it, we must strengthen efforts to prevent malnutrition before it begins. Together, we can ensure that every child has the opportunity not only to survive, but to thrive."

UNICEF is the world’s largest procurer of RUTF and, between 2003 and 2025, delivered 8.7 billion sachets globally – helping millions of children recover. Learn more here about the creation of RUTF 30 years ago and its lifesaving impact across the globe. 

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ABOUT UNICEF USA 

UNICEF USA advances the global mission of UNICEF by rallying the American public to support the world’s most vulnerable children. Together, we are working toward a world that upholds the rights of all children and helps every child thrive. For more information, visit www.unicefusa.org.

For more information please contact:

Michaela Johnson, UNICEF USA, 301-848-9048, MJohnson@unicefusa.org