Chicken liver and eggshell crackers as a safe and affordable animal-source food for overcoming micronutrient deficits during pregnancy and lactation in Indonesia: a double-blind randomised controlled trial

Our previous research has highlighted a high prevalence of anaemia, micronutrient deficiencies and impaired infant growth among lactating women and infants in the Sumedang district, West Java, Indonesia that were associated with large deficits in their micronutrient intakes. In response to these findings we have developed and pretested the acceptability of micronutrient-enriched crackers (MEC) based on powdered eggshells and chicken liver, a readily available and affordable local animal-source food. We will supply locally manufactured MEC to enrich the micronutrient content of daily diets of a group of pregnant and lactating women in Sumedang district to boost their intake of micronutrients. 

We envisage that by consuming MEC for six months during pregnancy and for five months after birth, there will be a marked increase in the micronutrient status of the Indonesian mothers as well as the concentrations of some micronutrients in their breast milk.