WBSCM Material Description and Number

CORNMEAL, SOY-FORT BAG-HP-25 KG    100611

General Information

Soy-fortified cornmeal (SFCM) is a cereal/legume blended product containing 85 percent cornmeal and 15 percent defatted (toasted) or expelled soy flour. The cornmeal is composed of 100 percent degermed corn. The soybeans are a finely ground product obtained from selected soybeans by cleaning, cracking, dehulling, tempering, flaking, defatting with hexane, desolventizing, deodorizing, toasting and cooling. The corn and soy beans used to manufacture SFCM are grown in most states with production concentrated in the Midwestern United States, and milling occurs at various locations and with various companies. For more information on SFCM production and milling, refer to the North American Millers’ Association (http://www.namamillers.org/consumer-page/). SFCM is packaged in 25-kilogram pinch bottom open mouth (PBOM) multiwall polyethylene-lined paper bags that contain an ultraviolet-resistant and an anti-skid coating. High-performance versions of the 25-kilogram bags are available and are required for deliveries to Africa. SFCM should be stored in dark, cool conditions. For full product specifications refer to the USDA Commodity Requirements Document for soy-fortified cornmeal.

Programming Guidance

SFCM may be used in place of fortified flour/meal and unfortified whole grains. SFCM is appropriate in situations where pregnant and lactating women and children 6-59 months require a nutritional boost but where individual beneficiary nutritional status is not being monitored. It may be used in emergencies and in development programs as illustrated by the 2011 Food Aid Quality Review (FAQR) report decision trees:

• Emergencies: SFCM can be used with oil and a pulse in the second phase of emergency food distribution. Either corn soy blend (CSB) or a ready-to-use supplementary food (RUSF) should be added as a targeted supplement for children under two (U2s) in situations where individual beneficiary nutritional status is being regularly monitored. In longer-term emergencies, SFCM may be used in Food for Assets, Food for Work, Food for Training programs, Vulnerable Group Feeding, and Food for Education programs.
• Development: SFCM can be provided in Food for Assets, Food for Work, Food for Training programs as well as Vulnerable Group Feeding and Food for Education programs. 

Nutrition/Preparation Information

SFCM may be used as an enriched cornmeal where corn is a preferred staple grain, such as in parts of South America, Central America, and Mexico. The addition of soy flour improves the protein content without altering the taste of cornmeal. SFCM is fortified with a micronutrient premix containing iron, zinc and vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B6, B9 (folic acid), B12 and D3 per USDA Commodity Requirements. Recent improvements to the premix will enhance the bioavailability of iron, increase zinc and Vitamin B12, remove calcium and change levels of the other vitamins and minerals to keep in line with recommendations in the FAQR report. SFCM can be served as a hot cereal, a coating for frying, a meat extender, or made into pancakes, tortillas, bread, muffins, cookies and desserts. To prepare, combine one cup of SFCM to 3 cups of boiling water and 1 cup of cold, potable water; cook for 15 minutes. For SFCM recipes and preparation guidance, refer to the North American Millers’ Association or the World Initiative for Soy in Human Health.

Nutritional Content

The nutritional values provided in the table below are for the finished product which consists of degermed, unenriched cornmeal, defatted soy meal and micronutrient premix.  The micronutrient values are target levels for vitamins and minerals. The values in this table were calculated using the average intrinsic values from the USDA National Nutrient Database data for degermed, unenriched, yellow, cornmeal, soy flour, defatted and the USDA 2012 draft of the updated Micronutrient Premix MNP1 for use in US Export Programs.

To find Nutritional Content please search the USDA National Nutrient Database for

o   “soy meal, defatted, raw”: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/4856?manu=&fgcd

o   “cornmeal,  degermed, unenriched, yellow”:  http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6612?manu=&fgcd

USDA Commodity Requirements Document

www.fsa.usda.gov/Assets/USDA-FSA-Public/usdafiles/Comm-Operations/pdf/sfcm4.pdf

Shelf Life/Best if Used By Date (BUBD)

• Shelf life - not available  
• BUBD - 18 months from packaging

Sources

United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Services Agency. 2013. USDA. Commodity Requirements.  SFCM Soy Fortified Cornmeal for Use in International Food Assistance Programs. Retrieved May 31, 2016 from: http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_File/sfcm4.pdf

United States Department of Agriculture, Farm Services Agency. Draft, 2012. USDA Commodity Requirements: For Discussion Purposes Only Micronutrient Premix MNP1 for Use in Export Programs. USDA.  Washington, DC.

United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. 2015. USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 28.  Cornmeal, degermed, unenriched, yellow. Nutrient Data Laboratory Home Page.  Retrieved on May 31, 2016  from: http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/

Webb, P., B. Rogers, I. Rosenberg, N. Schlossman, C. Wanke, J. Bagriansky, K. Sadler, Q. Johnson, J. Tilahun, A. Reese Masterson, A. Narayan.  2011.  Delivering Improved Nutrition: Recommendations for Changes to U.S. Food Aid Products and Programming.  Retrieved May 31, 2016 from: http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADZ842.pdf

World Initiative for Soy in Human Health.  Soy Fortified Products.  Soy Fortified Foods.  Retrieved on May 31, 2016 from http://www.wishh.org/soy-fortified-products/