DOST’s calamity food similar to ‘polvoron’

MANILA, Philippines - The no-cook and nutritious “compressed food” developed by nutritionists from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and recommended to be served at evacuation centers in times of disasters is a variation of the Filipino powdered milk delicacy “polvoron,” but of the healthier kind.

Dr. Mario Capanzana, DOST-FNRI director, yesterday said the “compressed food” that the FNRI has formulated was a blend of vegetable flour, fat, sugar and other ingredients mixed and compressed to provide carbohydrates and protein.

The vegetable flour could be squash, mongo or wheat flour.

“It is similar to a traditional polvoron compressed by a compression machine to form a round or rectangular product,” Capanzana said in an e-mail to The STAR.

“It has an estimated shelf life of six months to 12 months depending on the type of packaging materials used,” Capanzana added.

Another unit of the DOST, the Metals Industry Research and Development Center (MIRDC), has developed a machine for the mass production or preparation of the compressed food.

The machine can make as many as 600,000 packets of compressed food with four pieces in one packet.