Fermented cereal gruels: towards a solution of the weanling's dilemma

Contaminated weaning food contributes to an increase in diarrhea for infants in the transition period between exclusive breast feeding and a mixed diet. Further 2 public health specialists believe that between 15-70% of diarrhea episodes are linked with improper food preparation handling and storage practices and feeding methods. Since breast feeding does provide some protection against diarrhea some health workers advise mothers to breast feed as long as possible. Yet long term breast fed children can become malnourished as breast milk cannot sustain growth. So health workers must weigh the relative risk of starting and delaying weaning--the weanlings dilemma. In many developing countries mothers prepare fermented foods as weaning foods. These acidic foods (curdled goats milk and millet gruel no longer harbored Vibrio cholerae after 6 hours of fermentation. Further fermented foods are not as thick as and provide more calories than unfermented foods. In fact a study in Ghana shows that fermented maize dough porridge could fulfill the energy needs of a healthy child. Another advantage of fermented foods is that fermentation actually improves protein and amino acid levels. Moreover evidence demonstrates that fermentation reduces phytate levels improves the bioavailability of iron and zinc. In addition 3 studies show that fermentation reduces levels of aflatoxin B1 and hydrocyanic acid--both toxic to infants. Further due to some bacteria such as lactobacilli fermented foods may actually improve resistance of the intestines. Nevertheless fermented foods which have only undergone limited hours of fermentation have high concentrations of sugar which increases stool output. Thus it is best to wait at least 14 hours before offering fermented foods to infants. In conclusion fermented foods protect against diarrhea.