ABSTRACT
Objectives: To assess sensory acceptability of WFP developed, chickpea based and locally produced RUSF products for treatment of moderately malnourished (MAM) children aged from 6 to 59 months and assess the readiness of their caregivers to administer such food Methods: Mother to child pair of 129 numbers from 5 Woredas participated in a two phased acceptability and preference tests to first select two of the most preferred products out of 4 (Chickpea only; Chickpea+Soy; Chickpea+Maize+Soy; and Chickpea+Maize) and then went on assessing the sensory acceptability of the two selected RUSF products with a cohort type study design. Results: Out of the four products, chickpea only was selected to pass to the second phase evaluation of acceptability test and chickpea+soya joins it with random selection owing to the statistical similarity of the rest of the three products. Similarly, Chickpea only was better accepted product out of the two during the 6 days acceptability assessment of the study excelling in 8 of the 9 study variables/quality parameters. Both products has a mean value of more than 4 in most of the study parameter indicating that they were well accepted by the study participants. Conclusions: Chickpea only and chickpea+soya were well accepted and the study concluded that follow on effectiveness study should be carried out to assess the nutritional adequacy of the RUSF products so that it can be put in nutrition programs for MAM treatment.