On Tuesday, November 16, 2021, the Department of Food and Agricultural Products Technology of FTP UGM held a community service activity with the topic “Provision, Calculation of Nutritional Value, and Packaging of Complementary Foods (MP-ASI)” for training activities for posyandu cadres in Candibinangun Village, Pakem District. This activity was guided by Dr. Dwi Larasatie Nur Fibri, S.T.P., M.Sc., TPHP UGM lecturer,, and assisted by 2 TPHP UGM students from 2018, namely Yuniar Wika and Rizky Alifiansyah. This service was carried out in a hybrid manner with students going directly to the field and online lecturers from campus to help answer questions from the participants.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health (2006), complementary foods are foods or drinks that contain nutrients and can be consumed by infants at the age of 6-24 months. Giving complementary food to infants requires attention to the type of ingredients, amount of ingredients, and timeliness so as not to adversely affect the baby’s nutritional intake and digestive condition.
Based on WHO standards, the recommended MP-ASI composition is called the 4-star formulation, which consists of carbohydrates (potatoes), fat (coconut oil), protein (ground chicken, oyster mushrooms), and vegetables (celery, beans, carrots, onions, garlic). There are also ingredients that should be minimized or not used at all, namely flavoring, sugar, and salt. Flavoring can be obtained from 4-star components (natural ingredients).
The types of complementary foods given to infants include puree (soft porridge) for 6-9 months of age, thick porridge or finger food for 9-12 months of age, and family food (rice team) for 12-24 months of age. Things that need to be considered include the texture that is easy for babies to consume, easy to serve, availability of ingredients, clean and safe manufacturing process, and ensuring the absence of pathogenic bacteria, chemical or toxic compounds, and physical contamination.
The requirement for complementary food for infants aged 6-11 months is at least 20% of the RDA or around 200 kcal/day. By giving complementary food in the amount of 3 meals/day or equivalent to 135 grams (9 tablespoons), it has fulfilled at least 200 kcal.
Cooking methods for complementary foods can be done by boiling, steaming, cooking using a slow cooker, and cooking using a baby food processor. However, different cooking methods have a significant effect on the nutritional content of complementary foods, so the best cooking method is steamed.
Packaging and storage time also influenced the nutritional content of complementary foods. The type of container had a significant effect on fat, carbohydrate, and vitamin C content, but did not have a significant effect on moisture, ash, and protein content. Storage time had a significant effect on ash, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and protein content. This was due to the interaction between container and storage time on moisture and vitamin C content.
